CUPERTINO: Apple Inc said on Wednesday that it will build a battery-based renewable energy storage facility in Central California near a solar energy installation that already provides energy for all of its facilities in the state.
Apple said the project will store 240 megawatt-hours of energy, or enough to power more than 7,000 homes for one day. It is located next to the California Flats solar installation in southeastern Monterey County, about 100 miles southeast of Apple’s Cupertino, California headquarters.
The site sends 130-megawatts of electricity directly to Apple’s California facilities during daylight hours but does not provide power during dark hours. Lisa Jackson, Apple’s vice-president of environment, policy and social initiatives, said in an interview the company intends to develop what it believes will be one of the largest battery-based storage systems in the United States. “The challenge with clean energy - solar and wind - is that it’s by definition intermittent,” Jackson said. “If we can do it, and we can show that it works for us, it takes away the concerns about intermittency and it helps the grid in terms of stabilisation. It’s something that can be imitated or built upon by other companies.” — AFP
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