In February Apple announced the company’s plan to build and operate a data center in Denmark’s central Jutland. The center will then power Apple’s online services, including the iTunes Store, App Store, iMessage, Maps and Siri. Together with a similar center in County Galway, Ireland it will service customers across Europe.
The total investment is €1.7 billion and Apple follows up on its promise last year to build a data center in Denmark with an ambitious agreement with the University of Aarhus on a new biogas research and development partnership.
“We are grateful for Apple’s continued success in Europe and proud that our investment supports communities across the continent,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “This significant new investment represents Apple’s biggest project in Europe to date. We’re thrilled to be expanding our operations, creating hundreds of local jobs and introducing some of our most advanced green building designs yet.”
“This is a clearly a benefit of Apple’s billion kroner investment in the data centre in Foulum,” said Danish Foreign Minister, Kristian Jensen. “The partnership is a good example of how our targeted efforts to attract foreign companies to Denmark are producing results,” he concluded.
Apple supports nearly 672,000 European jobs, including 530,000 jobs directly related to the development of iOS apps. Since the App Store’s debut in 2008, developers across Europe have earned more than €6.6 billion through the worldwide sale of apps.
Apple now directly employs 18,300 people across 19 European countries and has added over 2,000 jobs in the last 12 months alone. Last year, Apple spent more than €7.8 billion with European companies and suppliers helping build Apple products and support operations around the world.
Foulum is a small town outside of Viborg where Aarhus University’s agricultural research facilities are located.
Like all Apple data centers, the new facilities will run entirely on clean, renewable energy sources from day one. Apple will also work with local partners to develop additional renewable energy projects from wind or other sources to provide power in the future. These facilities will have the lowest environmental impact yet for an Apple data center.
Under the terms of the agreement, Apple will provide financial support to the university’s research into biogas and how usable energy can be extracted from agriculture, whether it is fertilizer or straw supplied by local farmers.
“We believe that innovation is about leaving the world better than we found it, and that the time for tackling climate change is now,” said Lisa Jackson, Apple’s vice president of Environmental Initiatives. “We’re excited to spur green industry growth in Ireland and Denmark and develop energy systems that take advantage of their strong wind resources. Our commitment to environmental responsibility is good for the planet, good for our business and good for the European economy.”
The research agreement comes in the wake of Apple’s announcement last year that it will build one of the world’s largest data centers in Foulum.
The data center in Denmark, measuring 166,000 square meters, is expected to begin operations in 2017 and include designs with additional benefits for its community.
In Viborg, Denmark, Apple will eliminate the need for additional generators by locating the data center adjacent to one of Denmark’s largest electrical substations. The facility is also designed to capture excess heat from equipment inside the facility and conduct it into the district heating system to help warm homes in the neighboring community.
At a cost of approximately 6.3 billion kroner, the data center is the largest foreign capital investment in Danish history.
Apple with big investments in Denmark, source: Apple, Ireland