Apple introduced Tuesday that it had signed contracts for 650 megawatts of renewable energy in Europe.

This contains wind and photo voltaic tasks which are both operational or will probably be quickly. A big chunk of the ability they’ll produce will go towards offsetting the vitality use by Apple clients. Use of every thing from Mac Professionals to Apple Watches accounts for practically one-third of the corporate’s carbon footprint.

Though Europe isn’t normally thought-about a sunny continent, Apple is shopping for vitality from a number of photo voltaic farms, together with 110 megawatts every in Greece and Latvia, 131 megawatts in Spain, and 40 megawatts in Poland. Wind farms will contribute 99 megawatts in Romania and a portion of 129 megawatt solar-wind portfolio in Italy.

Individually, Apple additionally mentioned it will make investments $150 million in China to assist its suppliers swap to renewable vitality. Already, renewable sources energy greater than 90% of the corporate’s manufacturing and manufacturing within the nation.

Maybe most notable about these bulletins is that they seem within the newsrooms of Apple’s regional web sites, however not within the feed of its U.S. press web site. Beforehand, the corporate’s press releases on regional renewable energy purchases have appeared in that feed, maybe out of a need to not draw the ire of the Trump administration, which has been antagonistic to renewables.

Nonetheless, photo voltaic and wind — and more and more grid-scale batteries — have been the go-to supply of vitality for tech corporations seeking to energy their operations.

Microsoft and Meta have additionally been constant consumers of photo voltaic specifically. This 12 months alone, Meta has added over 2 gigawatts of photo voltaic capability, and Microsoft has signed offers that increase its whole by 1.5 gigawatts.

Whereas most massive tech corporations have pledged to maneuver to renewable energy, extra sensible concerns assist drive such offers. Photo voltaic and wind are among the many most cost-effective types of new producing capability, undercutting coal and pure fuel. When paired with batteries, which proceed to drop in price, they will present agency, 24-7 energy.

The opposite purpose is velocity: Photo voltaic farms could be constructed rapidly, with a typical undertaking requiring simply 18 months to finish. What’s extra, they are often accomplished in phases, permitting a part of the undertaking to come back on-line early. For tech corporations, that are in a race to safe energy for his or her information facilities and AI operations, that velocity could make a major distinction.