This year’s spring appears to be greener over at Apple’s data center in North Carolina. That’s because the North Carolina Utilities Commission has approved Apple’s plan to construct and operate a 4.8-megawatt fuel cell facility at the data center, providing green power for at least a portion of the electricity needs of the huge location. If you can still recall, we already told you about Apple’s plan to build the a fuel cell facility in the area. Also written in our previous post, we mentioned that Apple has already filed the necessary requirements to the North Carolina Utilities Commission, where the fate of the project will be decided.
Apple will reportedly use natural gas-powered fuel cells called “Bloom Boxes” to generate electricity, exhaust CO2, and water to the environment with no combustion byproducts. Apple’s 4.8-megawatt fuel cell facility will be the nation’s biggest private fuel cell energy project. Last week, the North Carolina Utilities Commission also approved Apple’s application to build a 20-megawatt solar farm in the area adjacent to its Maiden, North Carolina data center. We first heard about Apple’s solar energy plans in February this year. You can check out the official statement released by the North Carolina Utilities Commission here.