Apple buys hydroelectric green energy project near Oregon data center

Posted:
in General Discussion edited April 2014
Apple is expanding its use of clean energy to power its iCloud data centers, with the company's Prineville, Ore., facility now flanked by a small hydroelectric project acquired by the iPhone maker.


Hydroelectric system, via Oregon.gov.


The company's new purchase was revealed on Saturday by The Oregonian, which noted that initial proposals for the project indicated it would generate between 3 and 5 megawatts --?enough to power 2,000 to 3,500 homes, but still only a tiny amount of the power Apple will need to run the facility

The 45-mile project is located near Haystack Reservoir in a Jefferson County irrigation canal about 20 miles from Prineville. The price Apple paid for the project is unknown, but the previous owner, EBD Hydro, reportedly secured some $8.5 million in federal loans and grants to help finance it.

Apple's Oregon data center already utilizes wind energy, as does its California center. Apple also relies on the largest privately owned solar farm in the country for its Maiden, N.C., operation, while its upcoming Nevada center will utilize solar and geothermal energy.

Apple began construction of the Prineville facility in October of 2012, clearing and flattening the land where the two 338,000 square-foot buildings would eventually stand. Land preparation and construction are thought to have cost Apple around $68 million. Including server hardware, construction costs, and labor costs, the facility is expected to cost in the hundreds of millions of dollars -- perhaps billions.

And last September, it was revealed that Apple was looking to double the size of its Oregon data center, as the company was looking to purchase more land at a nearby location that would house a second structure of equal size. Apple is also paying some $150,000 each year to the governments of Prineville and Crook County in return for a 15-year property tax exemption.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 38
    asciiascii Posts: 5,936member

    I thought hydro power was generally not considered green energy, because damming rivers is bad for the wildlife. Or something.

  • Reply 2 of 38
    rot'napplerot'napple Posts: 1,839member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by ascii View Post

     

    I thought hydro power was generally not considered green energy, because damming rivers is bad for the wildlife. Or something.


     

     

    Nah, that only applies to cattle ranchers ruining it for a turtle.  Or something.

     

    When it comes to "Green", let's just hope this purchase is better for Apple then Solyndra was for the taxpayer!

  • Reply 3 of 38
    I'm glad to see corporations taking the lead on green initiatives, instead of the government regulating for it.
  • Reply 4 of 38
    evilutionevilution Posts: 1,399member

    Good for Apple, this isn't their first green purchase or project and it won't be their last.

    Remind me again, when did we last hear about Google/Samsung/Facebook buying something that wasn't just to increase profits.

  • Reply 5 of 38
    New meaning to the term "Apple-powered."
  • Reply 6 of 38
    ascii wrote: »
    I thought hydro power was generally not considered green energy, because damming rivers is bad for the wildlife. Or something.

    Comparing large hydro to small hydro is like comparing Samsung to Apple.
  • Reply 7 of 38
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    Is it just me or does that dam look really, really small?¡


    [INDENT][IMG ALT=""]http://forums.appleinsider.com/content/type/61/id/41708/width/500/height/1000[/IMG]
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  • Reply 8 of 38
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    solipsismx wrote: »
    Is it just me or does that dam look really, really small?¡

    1000

    Could be that the hidden side is really really huge. ;)
  • Reply 9 of 38
    evilution wrote: »
    Good for Apple, this isn't their first green purchase or project and it won't be their last.
    Remind me again, when did we last hear about Google/Samsung/Facebook buying something that wasn't just to increase profits.

    Read the blogs that will hit the wire Sunday. Apple has just stepped its "toe" into the energy business.
  • Reply 10 of 38
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ascii View Post

     

    I thought hydro power was generally not considered green energy, because damming rivers is bad for the wildlife. Or something.


    If that's the criteria, then I guess that wind power is bad too, because it kills plenty of birds, eagles, bats etc.:smokey: 

     

    And solar power melts birds.<img class=" src="http://forums-files.appleinsider.com/images/smilies//lol.gif" />

  • Reply 11 of 38
    konqerrorkonqerror Posts: 685member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by ascii View Post

     

    I thought hydro power was generally not considered green energy, because damming rivers is bad for the wildlife. Or something.


     

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Apple ][ View Post

     

    If that's the criteria, then I guess that wind power is bad too, because it kills plenty of birds, eagles, bats etc.:smokey: 


     

    In California, large hydro (>30 MW) is not considered "renewable" or green. Small hydro is.

  • Reply 12 of 38
    sandorsandor Posts: 655member
    Bear in mind it only produces 3-5 megawatts.

    To put that in perspective:
    Hoover dam hydro plant produces 2080 megawatts
    Niagara (at the falls) produces 4400 megawatts
  • Reply 13 of 38
    konqerrorkonqerror Posts: 685member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by sandor View Post



    Bear in mind it only produces 3-5 megawatts.

     

    Yes, but 3 MW, after you account for air conditioning and stuff, is still maybe 4,500 servers.

  • Reply 14 of 38
    phone-ui-guyphone-ui-guy Posts: 1,019member
    solipsismx wrote: »
    Is it just me or does that dam look really, really small?¡

    1000

    Not even a dam. Looks like they just route the water into a pipe and send it down a really big hill with the generator at the bottom to create power from the high speed water. You only need to dam water if you want to insure generation capacity. That also allows you to control the amount of power generated. You can release more water when you need more power.
  • Reply 15 of 38
    davendaven Posts: 696member
    I would consider this project 'green'. Why? Read the description. The project is a part of an existing irrigation system. So when the water is moved from a higher elevation to a lower elevation, you can either waste the energy potential or generate electricity from it. The water already has been taken out of the watershed and is in an irrigation canal. You may as well make the best of it.
  • Reply 16 of 38
    I hope Tim Cook is not making these decisions based on some unfounded belief that the globe is warming and we're all going to die unless he saves us with green energy. Remember when he got all red-faced and shaky at the pure mention that global warming might not exist. It's just a portion of the energy a data center needs - and Apple needs a lot. Probably 100's of megawatts for a big data center. I don't think green energy usually pencils out - except hydroelectric.
  • Reply 17 of 38
    drdaviddrdavid Posts: 90member
    pokerbear wrote: »
    I hope Tim Cook is not making these decisions based on some unfounded belief that the globe is warming and we're all going to die unless he saves us with green energy. Remember when he got all red-faced and shaky at the pure mention that global warming might not exist. It's just a portion of the energy a data center needs - and Apple needs a lot. Probably 100's of megawatts for a big data center. I don't think green energy usually pencils out - except hydroelectric.

    That's exactly what he is doing. (minus the hyperbole of "we're all going to die unless he saves us") Apple's green energy efforts haven't exactly been a secret.
  • Reply 18 of 38
    zabazaba Posts: 226member
    Cut the crap. It's always about money. Producing its own energy saves them an absolute fortune, doing it in a green way saves them even more. As a bonus they get the green recognition. They have billions to throw at this and will never pay an electricity bill.
  • Reply 19 of 38
    Usually hydro is considered harmful because of elevated water levels due to damming can leech harmful bacteria and rare earth metals into the water, this can kill fish and blah blah blah. It also destroys above ground wildlife habitat and blah blah blah. I find these arguments pretty weak... It's more about how people complain no matter what you try to do...
  • Reply 20 of 38
    ksecksec Posts: 1,569member

    Apart from the initial cost of buying / building the site and equipment. Datacenter is just all about cooling and Server usage which equals to electricity usage. Apple can afford to throw some money in it for renewable electricity. Other then small maintenance fees Apple basically gets to run its Datacenter for free.

     

    Which comes to think about it. The reason why Apple has been relatively slow in its DC expansion, is purely because they need to buy its ways into Renewable electricity generation.  And location and planning complicate the matter a lot.

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