Apple has agreed a deal with the city council of Claremont, NC, to annex land for a new solar farm. The company’s investment in the 100-acre, 17.5 megawatt solar farm is $55 million, reports the Hickory Daily Record.
According to information obtained by the local newspaper, the investment will indirectly create 75 jobs, which Apple has agreed to source locally, if possible, said the City Manager Doug Barrick.
The property is currently located in the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction, and the Council has agreed to annex the land, which is currently valued at more than $1.4 million. In a separate resolution between Apple and the city, the iPhone maker will be giving two parcels of land back to the city, earmarked as greenways, public recreation, and other public purposes. The combined value of the parcels is more than $92,000.
In exchange for Apple’s offering, the city is bringing a 1.5-acre piece of land to the table: the city’s former South Waste Water Treatment Plant – currently worth $36,000 – as it hasn’t been in use since 1993.
The solar farm in Claremont will be Apple’s third such facility in the area. The Maiden, NC, iCloud data center has a 100-acre solar installation generating 20 megawatts of power.
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They should put data centers in the desert. More sun and the farms could power everything. Out in NC, a good hurricane could end it all.