Tech giant Apple today announced a €1.7 billion investment in two new data centres in Europe, which will be run on 100% renewable energy and create hundreds of jobs.
The huge facilities, measuring 166,000 square metres, will store data for services such as iTunes, App Store and Siri across Europe, and will be built in County Galway, Ireland and Viborg, Denmark.
The Danish site will be built next to an electricity substation meaning there will be no additional generators, and excess heat from the equipment will be captured and conducted into the local neighbourhood's heating system.
The use of totally renewably powered data centres is something of a turnaround for Apple after it was criticised by Greenpeace in a 2011 report for being the "least clean" company in tech with its data centres relying on coal for around 54% of their energy. The company say they will be working with local partners to develop further sources of renewable energy, a move welcomed by the Irish Green Party.
According to Ossian Smyth, a councillor for Dun Laoghaire and the Greens' renewable energy spokesperson, Ireland is a natural choice for data centres due to its relatively cool and predictable climate.
"A big competitive advantage for Ireland is that the climate means that the cost of cooling machines is greatly reduced," he says.
It's not only the environment that could benefit from the new centres. Apple will be joining the likes of IBM, Google and Amazon in building European data centres in what is seen as a positive move for data privacy following Edward Snowden's 2013 revelations about US authorities monitoring of web communication.
The announcement comes amid a European Commission investigation into the company's controversial tax arrangement with the Irish government; the probe is looking into whether deals made in 1991 and 2007 amounted to "state aid" for a company that this year announced a first-quarter profit of $18 billion - the biggest ever for a private company.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement: "We are grateful for Apple's continued success in Europe and proud that our investment supports communities across the continent. This significant new investment represents Apple's biggest project in Europe to date. We're thrilled to be expanding our operations, creating hundreds of local jobs and introducing some of our most advanced green building designs yet."
According to Apple, the company spent €7.8 billion with European companies and suppliers last year, to help build Apple products and support their operations.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Luke is a reporter at Newsweek Europe based in London covering politics, business, science and technology. @HurstWords
