10 MW of Biogas Powered Fuel Cells for Apple Data Centre

06 December 2012 Cupertino, California based computing and electronics giant, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) has applied to the North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC)to expand the landfill gas powered fuel cell facility at its Maiden data centre from 4.8 MW up to 10 MW. According to the company, in total the data centre will draw around 20 MW of power at full capacity, of which it will produce some 60% on-site. Once upgraded to 10MW, Apple's fuel cell facility will once again be the largest non-utility fuel cell installation operating anywhere in the U.S. - a crown which it briefly lost to ebay's 6 MW facility in Utah - also fuelled by landfill gas. The application to NCUC stated that the upgraded facility would feature 50 individual fuel cells located on a single site adjacent to the data centre and will be fuelled by directed biogas from landfill - a renewable energy source as defined by the Commissions Order. The projected dependable capacity of the upgraded plant will be 9.6 MW, with 10 MW being the maximum nameplate capacity. The initial 4.8 MW fuel cell installation began start-up and testing in October 2012 and the full 10 MW plant is anticipated to be operational by January 2013. Sunnyvale, California based fuel cell specialist, Bloom Energy will supply the solid oxide fuel cells being installed at the plant. Read More Apple to Build 5 MW Biogas Fuel Cell at Maiden Data Center Apple has filed its plans to build the 5 MW fuel cell project in Maiden, North Carolina, that will utilise biogas to offset its natural gas use and qualify as a renewable facility. Will Decision to Abandon 'Green' Rating System Cost Apple Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) has controversially walked away from the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) - an environmental rating system that measures recyclability as one measure to help identify greener computers and other electronic equipment. Apple Makes U-Turn to Rejoin EPEAT Environmental Standard Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) has made a dramatic u-turn on its controversial decision walk away from the EPEAT environmental standards programme, which assesses a product's recyclability as one measure of its sustainable credentials.