The first name in commercial fuel cell technology is Bloom Energy and their biggest private installation to date is about to more than double. The Apple Data Center in North Carolina, which hosts the company’s iTunes, App Store and iCloud services, is currently home to a 4.8MW Bloom fuel cell power plant and that’s set to grow to 10MW.

The Hickory Record reports that North Carolina’s Utilities Commission has approved Apple’s application to double the size of the Bloom Energy manufactured fuel cell power plant at its Maiden, NC data center.

In May of last year, the commission approved Apple’s 4.8 megawatt fuel cell, which has since been built. The new approval grants the iPhone, iPad and Mac maker the right to expand the facility to 10MW.

The fuel cell consumes biogas harvested from a nearby solid waste landfill and excess electricity gets sold to Duke Energy, a power provider known for its heavy reliance on legacy coal and nuclear generating plants.

That’s the headline news. However, the Apple data center in North Carolina is also powered by a 100-acre, 20MW solar farm located on an adjacent piece of land.

Sure sounds like a win-win-win…

What’s your take?

image via Apple

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