Apple has announced that it will generate 1.2GW of renewable energy capacity from the green bonds the firm issued in 2020. The company funded 17 green bond projects, from the $4.7 billion in green bond funding the company issued since 2016. From its green bond portfolio, Apple has so far allocated $2.8 billion to projects. Apple has funded the development of 350MW of new energy generation capacity in Nevada, Illinois, Virginia, and Denmark in 2020 from its green bonds. The renewables projects will avoid an average of 921,000 metric tons of carbon emissions annually, which is equivalent to removing nearly 200,000 cars from the road. Green bonds are part of the company’s efforts to become carbon neutral across its entire business, manufacturing supply chain, and product life cycle by 2030.
Renewable energy projects funded by the technology company in 2020 include, Onsite solar project outside Reno, Nevada: A 180-acre site located within the Reno Technology Park is now providing 50MW of power to Apple’s Nevada data center. The project created 236 clean energy construction jobs and joins Apple’s three other Nevada projects that deliver 270MW. Wind farm outside Chicago: A 112MW virtual power purchase agreement with this wind farm in Illinois covers Apple’s electricity use in the Chicago region. Solar project in Fredericksburg, Virginia: Apple worked with Etsy, Akamai, and SwissRE to support the development of the 165MW plant, which is now delivering energy to the region’s broader electric grid. Largest onshore wind turbines in Denmark: Located near the Danish town of Esbjerg, the 200-meter-tall turbines are expected to produce 62GWh per annum, enough to power 20,000 households. The project powers Apple’s data center in Viborg, with all surplus energy going into the Danish grid. In addition to renewable energy projects, the green bonds are targeting low carbon design and engineering, energy efficiency, carbon mitigation, and carbon sequestration initiatives.