Apple in solar power quest for India operations; forms JV with company here

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If you thought Apple is just interested in using India as a manufacturing base for its products – especially iPhones – and a market for its array of its digital technology items, you are mistaken. The Cupertino-based MNC has set up a joint venture with renewable energy developer CleanMax to make its own energy for its Indian operations from clean sources with a view to becoming a carbon-neutral entity across its value-chain by the end of this decade. It would be used to power the company’s offices and the two retail stores in Mumbai and New Delhi.

CleanMax is a leading renewable power generating company with more than 150 corporate clients. The company has already installed more than 600 rooftop solar projects for different corporates, with a total rooftop generating capacity in excess of 350 MW in India, UAE and Thailand.

As envisaged, the solar project would be able to generate a total of 14.4 megawatt of power. It would be used to power the company’s offices and the two retail stores in Mumbai and New Delhi. However, the Cupertino-based company didn’t provide any financial details of the project.

Significantly, this announcement by Apple comes against a global rise in investments in environment-friendly energy and water by the company. around the world by Apple. Right now, the company produces more than 18 GW of clean electricity to run its global operations and manufacturing supply chain. What’s interesting is this quantum of energy is 300% more than what it generated in 2022, the company revealed.

Not only generation of electricity, Apple is also moving forward to realise another green goal – to replenish 100% of the freshwater the company uses in corporate operations in water-stressed locations. It has running initiatives to replenish freshwater reserves in Telangana and Maharashtra, Apple said.

In 2023, the company realised its target of full water replenishment for the company’s corporate operations in this country. For this it has got a tie-up with Uptime Catalyst Facility. Last year, the Apple-driven project provided 2.3 crore gallons of clean, affordable drinking water to different communities through more than 300 water kiosks run by local entrepreneurs.

The company’s programme for responsible water management was launched in 2021, when Apple’s data centre in Prineville, Oregon, became the first data centre certified to the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS), which is a trusted global framework for measuring responsible water stewardship.

Last year, Apple included seven supplier sites in south India and more than 20 supplier sites near Shanghai and Suzhou (in China) in the water stewardship training with AWS.