Apple signs deal with wind turbine maker Goldwind to bring clean power to suppliers
Apple has entered into a joint venture with wind turbine maker Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology -- better known as Goldwind -- that should help bring more clean energy to its Chinese suppliers.
A subsidiary of Goldwind, Beijing Tianrun New Energy Investment, is transferring its 30 percent stakes in four project firms to Apple, according to a Hong Kong stock exchange filing seen by the South China Morning Post. The document didn't disclose what Apple's contribution will be, but while the project firms will stay subsidiaries under Goldwind for stock exchange purposes, they won't be consolidated in the company's financial statements, since key decisions will require unanimous approval by the firms' directors.
The Post didn't indicate which Apple suppliers would benefit from the arrangement, or how much power Apple is hoping to supply. Recently, however, Lens Technology said it would fully power its glass production with renewable sources by the end of 2018, doing so partly through wind farms in Hunan province.
To date, Apple's efforts at compensating for the dirty, non-sustainable power its suppliers often depend on have revolved around solar. The company is building out 200 megawatts of solar farms to offset its suppliers' impact, and working with them directly to install over 4 gigawatts of clean energy worldwide, half of that in China. Foxconn -- Apple's main manufacturing partner -- will be constructing 400 megawatts of solar to compensate for its iPhone facility in Zhengzhou.
A subsidiary of Goldwind, Beijing Tianrun New Energy Investment, is transferring its 30 percent stakes in four project firms to Apple, according to a Hong Kong stock exchange filing seen by the South China Morning Post. The document didn't disclose what Apple's contribution will be, but while the project firms will stay subsidiaries under Goldwind for stock exchange purposes, they won't be consolidated in the company's financial statements, since key decisions will require unanimous approval by the firms' directors.
The Post didn't indicate which Apple suppliers would benefit from the arrangement, or how much power Apple is hoping to supply. Recently, however, Lens Technology said it would fully power its glass production with renewable sources by the end of 2018, doing so partly through wind farms in Hunan province.
To date, Apple's efforts at compensating for the dirty, non-sustainable power its suppliers often depend on have revolved around solar. The company is building out 200 megawatts of solar farms to offset its suppliers' impact, and working with them directly to install over 4 gigawatts of clean energy worldwide, half of that in China. Foxconn -- Apple's main manufacturing partner -- will be constructing 400 megawatts of solar to compensate for its iPhone facility in Zhengzhou.
Comments
- mining for metals & rare earth minerals for the magnets
- energy needed to fabricate, transport, install, maintain and ultimately dispose of the turbines
- visual and physical transformations of the natural world
- low frequency (including inaudible) sound effects still under study
Wind is indeed renewable, and arguably cleaner, but can we call it clean ?
The new leader of the USA will soon tweet,
"Apple must use energy from Clean Coal to make iPhones in the USA. Make America great again'
Not a real argument as everything mentioned above is also required to build equipment for mining and transporting resources from nature.
The "clean and renewable" applies to the production of energy, not the production of the equipment to harness the energy - as there is absolutely no method of harnessing energy that doesn't require some form of man made equipment.
Does this mean that Apple will be the owner of 30% of these companies and hence own assets in China?