Apple makes a major energy investment in Europe

"It wants to ensure the electricity its customers use to power Apple products is matched by renewables. In what may become another strategically positive moat around its business, Apple has announced a huge 650MW European energy investment to ensure the energy required to use its devices and services is offset with renewable power. The move forms part of a global commitment as the company moves to build a circular business by 2030."

"The energy used to charge Apple devices accounted for around 29% of the company's greenhouse gas emissions in 2024, contributing a large amount to its Scope 3 emissions. The company is working toward becoming completely carbon neutral across its business, and slashing Scope 3 emissions is an integral part of that. The company has already slashed emissions by 60% since 2015. To help achieve this, Apple is supporting development of large wind and solar energy farms in Greece, Italy, Latvia, Romania, and Poland. This follows a similar investment in Spain earlier this year. Together, these Apple-enabled projects will add 650 megawatts of renewable energy capacity to electrical grids across Europe in the coming years."

"While these energy producers will simply feed the energy they produce into their local grid, the idea is that Apple can use that energy production to offset the energy consumed by users. The overall intention is to match 100% of the electricity Apple's customers use in Europe, (including the UK, which is part of the European tectonic bloc) to run their devices within five years. "By 2030, we want our users to know that all the energy it takes to charge their iPhone or power their Mac is matched with clean electricity," said Lisa Jackson, Apple's vice president of environment, policy, and social initiatives"

Apple is investing in 650 MW of wind and solar capacity across Greece, Italy, Latvia, Romania, and Poland to add renewable generation to European grids. The projects follow an earlier Spanish investment and aim to match electricity used to power Apple devices with clean energy. Charging devices accounted for about 29% of Apple's greenhouse gas emissions in 2024 and represented a major part of Scope 3 emissions. Apple has reduced emissions 60% since 2015 and targets full carbon neutrality and a circular business by 2030. The strategy uses grid-fed renewables to offset customer electricity use within five years.

Read at Computerworld