New solar and wind projects will add 650 MW of renewable energy capacity to European electrical grids, “to match the electricity European customers use to power Apple products”, as the consumer electronics giant framed the move, announced on 14 October.
The planned projects include large-scale solar and wind farms being developed in Greece, Italy, Latvia, Poland, and Romania
Publicity for the move ties it in with the group’s goal to be carbon neutral by 2030, towards which end the group is seeking to “enable renewable projects to address the electricity European customers use to power and charge their Apple devices”.
“By 2030, Apple plans to match 100 percent of global customer electricity use with clean electricity by bringing new wind and solar power online around the world.”
Product use — the energy it takes to charge and power Apple devices — accounted for about 29 percent of the group’s overall greenhouse gas emissions in 2024, said the announcement.
In different parts of Europe, Apple said it is facilitating the construction of large-scale projects that will add around 3,000 gigawatt-hours of renewable energy to the grid each year by 2030. In Greece, the company has signed a long-term agreement to procure power from a 110MW solar project owned and operated by HELLENiQ ENERGY. Now fully operational, the project will support Greece’s transition to renewable energy. In Italy, Apple is supporting the development of a 129MW portfolio of solar and wind projects. The first project — a solar project in Sicily — will come online this month.
In Poland — home to one of the most carbon-intensive grids on the continent — Apple has enabled Econergy’s 40MW solar array, which will be operational later this year. The group also plans to procure power from Nala Renewables’ 99MW wind farm in Romania’s Galați County through a long-term agreement originated by OX2, which is now constructing the project. And in Latvia, Apple has signed one of the country’s first corporate power purchase agreements with European Energy. Through the long-term deal, the group will procure electricity from one of Latvia’s largest solar farms to date, which will add 110 MW of power capacity to the grid once complete. Apple also enabled the development of a 131MW solar farm developed by ib vogt in Segovia, Spain. The project became operational earlier this year.
