Apple to double size of fuel cell plant at NC data center

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
A new filing with the North Carlina Utilities Commission reveals that Apple plans to double the number of fuel cells deployed at its Maiden data center, with a total energy output able to power about 6,250 homes.

Bloom Server Farm
Aerial view of supposed Bloom Energy server farm. | Source: Wired


Apple's existing array of 24 hydrogen-based "Energy Servers" outputs 4.8 megawatts of power and is the largest private installation of its kind, however the company plans to add another 26 fuel cells to the project, upping its power yield to 10 megawatts by January, reports the Charlotte Observer. To put that number into perspective, the 10-megawatt plant has the ability to power 6,250 average households when running at full capacity.

The fuel cells, built by California company Bloom Energy, convert clean methane from a nearby landfill to usable electricity which feeds Apple's massive $1 billion Maiden, N.C. data center. Among other online assets, the facility is home to iCloud and the brains of Apple's Siri virtual assistant.

The source of the methane remains unannounced, but the Observer noted that a contract for the fuel was signed with Houston-based Element Markets Renewable Energy, LLC. It has been rumored that local firm Piedmont Natural Gas is a prime contender.

To be considered a renewable facility, Apple will have to produce or purchase biogas of its own to offset the methane being piped into the fuel cells and the new filing states that excess electricity will be sold to Duke Energy.

In addition to the fuel cell farm, Apple has also built the country's largest solar array to help power its data center. The 100-acre, 20-megawatt installation provides 42 million kilowatt hours of clean energy per year.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 9
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    Greenpeace's response?

    Meh... so what.
  • Reply 2 of 9

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by lkrupp View Post



    Greenpeace's response?


     


    They'll probably complain that the manufacture of the Boom boxes is bad for the environment.

  • Reply 3 of 9


    Originally Posted by OriginalMacRat View Post

    They'll probably complain that the manufacture of the Boom boxes is bad for the environment.




    They'll complain that "acres of pristine forest" were destroyed to make way for this.

  • Reply 4 of 9


    Suck it Greenpeace

  • Reply 5 of 9
    lerxtlerxt Posts: 186member
    Typical US responses. Why is it that education and scientific reasoning is so poor in the US? Apple is responding to a problem the whole world understands has been proven with overwhelming scientific scrutiny. Meanwhile in the US....
  • Reply 6 of 9
    hill60hill60 Posts: 6,992member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by lkrupp View Post



    Greenpeace's response?

    Meh... so what.


     


    They use coal power there so Apple is bad, it makes no difference that Apple is minimising their reliance on the local grid.


     


    If all the coal powered power stations on Earth suddenly all shut down, all at once, chaos would ensue.


     


    Reality bites.

  • Reply 7 of 9
    Apple putting more green energy in yay maybe there devices will one day.
  • Reply 8 of 9


    Originally Posted by Curtis Hannah View Post

    Apple putting more green energy in yay maybe there devices will one day.




    Typically sentences end before the period.

  • Reply 9 of 9
    aaarrrggghaaarrrgggh Posts: 1,609member
    Wow... Bloom did good hiring Peter Gross!
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