Apple announced that it is significantly expanding its renewable energy capacity to match the electricity European consumers user to charge its products.
The company has previously announced a commitment to be carbon neutral by 2030, but this initiative takes things further. After all, as well as the energy used to build, ship and sell an iPhone or a Mac, there’s also the electricity you need to power and recharge the device.
By adding new clean energy projects across Europe, it will “generate over 1 million megawatt-hours of clean electricity on behalf of Apple users by 2030,” Apple said.
New large-scale solar and wind farms are in development in Greece, Italy, Latvia, Poland, and Romania, which will work alongside a newly active solar array in Spain.
The new projects will add 650 megawatts of renewable energy capacity to electrical grids in Europe. This will also benefit consumers in the U.K.
The plan is to match 100% of the electricity use of its customers worldwide with clean power from wind and solar sources.
Lisa Jackson, Apple’s vice president of Environment, Policy, and Social Initiatives explained how this will take shape. “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,” she said. “Our new projects in Europe will help us achieve our ambitious Apple 2030 goal, while contributing to healthy communities, thriving economies, and secure energy sources across the continent.”
Apple estimates that the energy it takes to power Apple devices, including charging them, added up to about 29% or Apple’s greenhouse gas emissions last year.
“To address these emissions, Apple supports renewable energy projects that maximize impact on grids around the world, aiming to avoid the carbon that’s emitted by charging and powering Apple devices,” the company said.
Apple prioritizes projects in grids that have a high carbon intensity. Poland, for instance has a very carbon-intensive grids in Europe and Apple has enabled a 40-megawatt solar array there which will come onstream later in 2025.
Even that pales in comparison with the 131-megawatt solar farm in Segovia, Spain, which went live earlier this year.
Apple’s strategy benefits all. While it doesn’t mean it won’t cost you anything to run and charge your Apple products, it makes renewable energy — a good thing in itself — available to the grid.
