Apple is reportedly building a solar farm near its data center in North Carolina to help power the massive, 500,000 square-foot facility.
According to the Charlotte Observer, Catawba County has granted Apple permission to begin altering some of the 171-acre lot it owns across from the data center into a solar farm.
Apple’s billion-dollar data center is located on Startown Road in rural Maiden, N.C., about 44 miles north of Charlotte. The facility, which was completed earlier this year, is believed to house support for iCloud.
The Observer said Apple’s giant data center is currently powered by Duke Energy, an electricity provider in the county that relies primarily on coal and nuclear plants. A solar plant would certainly help Apple reduce the carbon footprint made by the enormous facility.
The project has been dubbed “Project Dolphin Solar Farm.” While it was under construction, Apple referred to the data center as Project Dolphin, but it’s now called iDataCenter.
Apple has been issued a permit for the site, but it doesn’t include any details about the size of the farm, the Observer said. The permit discusses Apple’s strategy to control erosion in nearby creeks and other spots. It lists a Chrarlotte-based firm as the contractor and says that there will be several gravel roads from which to access the farm.
Beyond that, there aren’t a lot of details available about the solar farm, and the Observer said that even county officials are short on details. However, Toni Norton, a county engineer that has seen Apple’s plans for erosion control, said more information should come to light when Apple applies for a building permit.
Apple reps did not respond to a request for comment.