Apple announces $850-mn deal for solar facility with First Solar
11 Feb 2015
Apple CEO Tim Cook has announced an $850-million investment in a 25-year deal with solar panel firm First Solar.
The deal would cover the building of a 2,900-acre solar facility in Monterey County, California to power the new Apple headquarters, along with a computer centre and 52 retail stores in California.
Recognising climate change at the Goldman Sachs investment conference in San Francisco, Cook announced that the time was ripe for taking action.
First Solar will build the 280 MW power facility, from which Apple would receive 130 MW - enough to power its new headquarters in Cupertino, California
Pacific Gas and Electric, the main utility for Northern California, would take up the remaining electricity.
Daily Mail reported that the move was commended by Greenpeace, which said Fortune 500 CEOs would do well to follow Cook's example.
Apple shares gained 1.9 per cent following the announcement, closing at an unprecedented $710 billion Reuters reported. Shares of First Solar were also up 3 per cent.
First Solar, Inc manufactures and sells photovoltaic solar modules with an advanced thin-film semiconductor technology, apart from designing, constructing and selling PV solar power systems. The company manufactures thin-film PV solar module and PV solar modules and operates its business in the components and systems segments.
Its components operations cover the design, manufacture, and sale of solar modules, which convert sunlight into electricity, while its systems business involves the sale of its solar modules coupled with the engineering, procurement and construction of solar PV power plants.
In September 2013, First Solar, Inc announced its acquisition of the 250 MW, AC photovoltaic Moapa Solar Project in Nevada from K Road Power.
In 2011 First Solar announced that it has signed an agreement to supply a 100 megawatt (MW) solar module to Reliance Power, the largest such supply agreement in India to date (See: First Solar to supply 100 megawatt solar module to Reliance Power).
