Apple is planning to build a third solar farm near North Carolina, data center, in the vicinity of its Maiden.
The Hickory Record reported on Monday that, local officials approved a plan to annex land for the future solar farm to the City of Claremont which is nearly 20 miles north of Maiden.

The company is expected to invest $55 million in the 100-acre 17.5 megawatt plant, which will be its third in the area. It already has one directly at the Maiden data center site and another one in Conover, another nearby town.
As far as concerned with the impact of Internet on the environment has been raised by Greenpeace and in the press, some data center operators have been investing in renewable energy and actively promoting their actions. Companies like Google, Facebook and Microsoft, which also operate massive data centers, have made substantial investments in renewable energy generation to support their operations.

Apple is big on Solar, and it also planning a 20 megawatt solar farm in Reno, Nevada. The company data center energy supply is 100 percent renewable, making it a Greenpeace darling. Also in North Carolina, it uses fuel cells that make electricity out of biogas from nearby landfills.

The newspaper reports that the upcoming solar project in Claremont will create 75 indirect jobs, which the company is sourcing locally. The market value of the land is more than $1.4 million. Apple also gave the city two tracts of land earmarked for greenways, recreation and public purposes.
North Carolina law says that 80 percent of the appraised value of a solar energy electric system is excluded from the city tax base.

Cook also took the opportunity to call out another big fish Greenpeace has been gunning for: Amazon. “Jeff Bezos should take notice of Tim Cook’s leadership as Apple proves that we can power our online lives with renewable energy, leaving Amazon further in the dust,” he said.