揭秘苹果公司鲜为人知的太阳能战略

早在太阳能还没有那么便宜和易于获得的时候，苹果就开始率先使用这种清洁能源。

离开美国“离婚之城”里诺市中心那些正在衰落的赌场，驱车一个半小时，就来到了一片荒原。这里整齐排列着一排排闪闪发亮的镜面和太阳能电池，比赌场里并排摆满的老虎机还要闪亮。它们是用来给附近一座苹果数据中心提供电力的。如果没有它们，这座数据中心还得依赖传统的化石能源。

作为全球最大的科技公司，苹果之所以选择在光照条件极好的内华达州建立太阳能发电设施，就是看中了该地区充足的天然清洁能源。根据苹果的计划，该公司旗下所有运营场所，包括数据中心、零售店和办公楼，最终都将依靠可再生能源提供电力。

苹果公司环境政策与社会活动事务副总裁丽莎•杰克逊日前宣布，苹果在全球93%的设施将完全使用太阳能、风能和水电来提供电力。这座太阳能发电设施就坐落在一条号称美国“最孤独的公路”旁边，一路尽是荒草和荒无人烟的鬼城。然而就是因为有了类似这样的工程，苹果才得以接近上述目标。

Apple has pioneered using solar, starting in a time when solar wasn’t so cheap or easy to get.

Shiny mirrors and solar cells in a barren plain in Nevada, about an hour and a half from the aging casinos of downtown Reno, flash brighter than a room crammed with slot machines. They’re helping power a vast and expanding data center nearby owned by Apple that would otherwise depend on fossil fuel for electricity.

The world’s biggest tech company decided to build the facility in this sun soaked state partly to tap into the region’s abundant natural clean energy. It’s an example of Apple’s ambitious pledge to eventually power all of its operations—data centers, retail outlets, and offices—with renewable energy.

On Monday, Lisa Jackson, Apple’s VP of environment, policy, and social initiatives,announced that 93% of the company’s worldwide facilities rely entirely on electricity generated by the sun, wind, and water. And it’s because of projects like this one —that sits just off of a highway dubbed the Loneliest Road in America, past tumbleweeds and intermittent ghost towns—that Apple is so close.

从这座太阳能发电厂也能看出，随着太阳能发电成本的下降，以及各大电力公司纷纷推出了针对大企业客户的太阳能发电项目，苹果的清洁能源战略在这几年间经历了怎样的发展轨迹。

此外，苹果还计划从内华达州一座新落成的太阳能发电站那里购买更多电力，新发电站的发电量将超过目前这座的一倍以上。它坐落于“赌城”拉斯维加斯城外，预计不久便将投入施工。

这些额外的电力将用来满足苹果数据中心日益增长的用电需求。苹果公司在内华达州公共用电委员会的备案文件显示，2017年到2019年，这座数据中心的电力消耗预计将增长45%。

这两座新旧发电站的对比彰显了苹果太阳能项目和内华达州的太阳能产业已经取得了哪些进展。太阳能已经不再是一种成本昂贵的边缘能源，在环保因素的推动下，它已经成为一种颇具成本效益的主流能源。

在很大程度上，太阳能产业在美国的飞速增长要归功于加利福尼亚州和内华达州近年来兴建的一批大型太阳能发电厂。许多大型电力公司以及包括苹果在内的多家大企业，都在这些拥有大量廉价开阔土地和光照条件极佳的地区建立了自己的太阳能发电站。

然而，太阳能并非一向都是这样受青睐的，特别是前几年苹果还没有率先搞自己的太阳能项目的时候。很多地区的能源企业和电力公司一开始并没有意识到，像苹果这样的公司居然会愿意为太阳能支付更高的溢价。那时的太阳能技术本身，包括太阳能电池板的价格，也要比现在贵得多。

2014年年末，也就是苹果宣布建设该项目一年多之后，我首次访问这座名叫“丘吉尔堡”（Fort Churchill）的发电站。当时它还处于测试和施工阶段。

根据内华达州公共电力委员会的备案文件，2012年，苹果公司决定在里诺地区建立一座数据中心，随后主动接洽伯克希尔哈撒韦公司旗下的NV能源公司。双方决定利用这片由NV能源持有的空地。这里紧临一座大型的天然气发电厂，离此不远有一座名叫耶灵顿的小镇。

双方之所以看中这个地点，首先是因为它离苹果的数据中心相对较近，只有大约60英里的路程。更重要的是，它离苹果数据中心已有的输电线路很近。

按照苹果与NV能源的原始协议，苹果将与太阳能开发商SunPower公司合作建厂。苹果拥有该项目的所有权，但同意将该项目租用给NV能源，租期20年。

这种安排在电力行业是不同寻常的。它意味着在该项目整个建设过程，苹果公司必须承担一些潜在风险。通常来说，像苹果这样的企业，一般只是打算充当一个终端用户，直接从NV能源或SunPower这样的电力公司那里买电。

But the Nevada solar farm also illustrates how Apple’s clean energy plans have evolved over the years as the cost of solar has declined and as power companies and utilities have created programs for corporate customers to tap into. At the same time, Apple has gradually gained a better understanding of the most efficient ways to buy clean energy and build the plants that generate it.

In the future, Apple plans to buy significantly more solar energy in Nevada from a new project that will provide more than double the clean energy that this solar facility does. Construction will likely soon start outside of Las Vegas.

The extra power will help keep up with the increasing demand for electricity at Apple’s data center. The facility’s power consumption is expected to grow 45% from 2017 to 2019, according to filings by Apple with the Nevada Public Utility Commission.

The contrasts between the two Nevada sites highlights how Apple’s solar projects, and big solar in Nevada overall, have progressed. Solar has gone from being a costly fringe source of electricity, which was driven by environmental motivations, to a cost-effective mainstream power source.

Much of the industry’s growth has come from huge solar panel farms built in the California and Nevada deserts. Large power companies, and increasingly businesses like Apple, have staked claims in these regions that are abundant with cheap open space and blue skies.

But solar wasn’t always such a given, particularly when Apple first started out on its solar quest years ago. In many regions the local power companies and utilities didn’t originally recognize that companies like Apple would be willing to pay a premium for solar. Solar technology itself, including the price of the panels, was also far more expensive.

I first visited the project, called Fort Churchill, in late 2014, more than a year after Apple announced plans to build it. At the time, it was still being tested and constructed.

Apple first approached NV Energy, which is owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, in 2012 about how to buy clean energy after deciding to build a data center in the Reno area, according to filings with Nevada’s Public Utilities Commission. The two companies decided to use this stretch of unused land owned by NV Energy, next to a large natural gas power plant, near a small city called Yerington.

The main reasons for picking the spot was that it was relatively close to Apple’s data center, around 60 miles away. More specifically, it was close to the the existing power lines that supplied power to Apple’s data center.

As part of its original deal with NV Energy, Apple said it would work with solar developer SunPower SPWR -7.57% to build the solar farm. But Apple would own the project and would lease it to NV Energy over a period of 20 years.

That’s a somewhat unusual arrangement in the utility world that meant that Apple was taking on some potential risk in going through with the project. More often a company like Apple would want to just be the end customer and buy power from NV Energy or SunPower.

但在2012年达成这项协议的时候，苹果正在为其数据中心搜寻清洁能源，它并不想充当一家被能源公司追求的客户。像NV能源这样的企业，从来没有遇见过像苹果这样的公司，明明从事的不是能源行业，但对太阳能如此坚持。

其实，几个月前才刚刚开始发电的丘吉尔堡发电厂，与苹果过去几年在北卡罗莱纳州数据中心附近建立的其他几个太阳能项目没有什么区别。那几座太阳能发电站，是苹果公司建设的第一批大型数据中心太阳能发电项目，在当时也是美国最大的私营太阳能发电厂。

苹果在拉斯维加斯郊外建设的太阳能发电站，名叫巨石城II（Boulder City II）。和丘吉尔堡不同的是，SunPower公司计划自行建造、拥有和运营巨石城II发电厂。这一次，苹果与NV能源签订了更为传统化的用电采购协议，扮演了一个终端用户的角色。考虑到这种安排使苹果免去了对整个项目进行管理的麻烦，该协议对于苹果来说可能更有效率一些。

内华达州的这两座太阳能发电站，在规模和技术上也有一定的差异。丘吉尔堡发电厂占地面积稍小，约为136英亩，发电载荷为18兆瓦，大约能满足3000个家庭的日常用电。

为了达到较高的发电量，苹果在丘吉尔堡发电厂使用了SunPower公司提供的一种比较新潮的混合型太阳能技术，能够在比较紧凑的土地上转化更多的太阳能。丘吉尔堡发电厂使用聚光镜来聚集太阳光，并利用太阳能电池板将聚集的太阳光转化成电力。一般的太阳能发电站只使用聚光镜或太阳能电池板其中一种，但丘吉尔堡却同时使用这两种技术。

大多数公司之所以不使用这种混合发电模式，是由于它的成本往往高于单独使用太阳能电池板发电。但如果发电厂的土地比较有限，那么也可以使用这种模式，因为它可以在一块狭小地域里产出更多电力。

这种混合发电模式对土地的影响也相对较小。目前，苹果在中国建设的太阳能发电站也使用了这种模式，因为与该公司合作的中国开发商也倾向于使用对环境影响更小的技术。

在上周一的活动上，丽莎•杰克逊对苹果的清洁能源项目做了简短的介绍。在讲演过程中，她还展示了一张幻灯片，图片中是SunPower为苹果在中国建设的一座太阳能发电站，一群牦牛正在高大的太阳能电池阵的下方和周围悠闲地吃草。从这个角度看，里诺市郊外的丘吉尔堡发电站，可能正是为了在中国建设更大规模太阳能发电站的一个试验台。

苹果公司对丘吉尔堡太阳能发电厂的投资成本属于保密信息。不过SunPower公司CEO汤姆•给尔纳对《财富》表示，这家发电站“经济账还是划得来的。”

相比之下，SunPower建设的巨石城II发电站仅采用太阳能电池板，这也是目前最流行和最便宜的太阳能发电模式。该项目的发载载荷预计将达到50兆瓦，超过丘吉尔堡发电站一倍以上，足以满足8000个普通美国家庭的用电量。

据称，在巨石城II太阳能项目的整个寿命期间，它的供电成本仅为不到5美分/千瓦时。这个费用相对还是比较低的，因为美国的公共电网供电成本往往会达到10美分/千瓦时甚至以上，且各州的费用略有不同。据报道，苹果将在太阳能电力的初始价格基础上支付一部分溢价，但至于这笔额外的费用究竟是多少，目前还处于保密状态。

丘吉尔堡发电厂，也是第一批享受内华达州清洁能源政策，即“绿色能源骑士计划”的太阳能发电项目之一。根据该政策，像苹果这样的企业在购买电力时，如果自愿支付一定的额外费用，那么额外支付的这部分费用就将被用来开发太阳能和风能等清洁能源，这样一来，其他电力消费者就可避免支付更高的电费。

But at the time of the deal in 2012, Apple was in search of clean energy for its data center rather than a customer being wooed. Power companies like NV Energy weren’t particularly familiar with a company like Apple, which isn’t in the energy business, being so insistent on solar power.

But the deal for Fort Churchill, which started producing power a few months ago, is similar to how Apple built solar projects near its data center in North Carolina over the past few years. These were the company’s first big data center solar projects and were, at the time, the largest privately-owned solar farms in the U.S.

In contrast, for Apple’s solar project outside of Las Vegas—called Boulder City II— SunPower plans to build, own, and operate the solar farm. It is doing a more traditional power purchase agreement with NV Energy in which Apple is the ultimate customer. Such a deal can be more efficient for Apple because it is freed from having to manage the development itself.

There’s also a contrast in size and technology between Apple’s Nevada solar sites. Apple’s solar project near Reno generates 18 megawatts, providing the equivalent power of close to 3,000 homes, on a relatively small 137 acres.

To generate that power, Apple is using a funky sort of hybrid solar technology from SunPower that is able to produce extra power on a compact plot of land. That site uses both mirrors to concentrate sunlight and solar cells to convert the concentrated sunlight into electricity. Usually sites use either mirrors or panels, but the project outside of Reno uses both.

Most companies don’t use this type of solar hybrid mirror and cell technology because it tends to be more expensive than relying entirely on solar panels. But companies that only have limited space can use this setup because it provides more power in a compact area.

The hybrid technology can also have less impact on the land. Indeed, Apple is using the hybrid technology for its solar farms in China, where Chinese developers tend to prefer technology with less environmental impact.

During Lisa Jackson’s short clean energy presentation at Apple’s event on Monday, she showed off a slide of the SunPower hybrid solar tech installed in China with yaks grazing under and around the solar arrays. In that way, the solar site outside of Reno could have been a test bed for larger installations in China.

The costs of Apple’s Fort Churchill solar farm are confidential. But SunPower CEO Tom Werner tellsFortune that the “economics work” for the site.

In contrast, SunPower’s BoulderCity II site is using just solar panels, which is the most popular and cheapest form of solar available. The project is expected to generate 50 megawatts, which is more than double the northern site and is enough to power 8,000 average U.S. homes.

The cost of power from the BoulderCity II solar project is reportedly less than 5 cents per kilowatt hour over the life of the plant. That is relatively low considering that grid electricity, depending on the state, can cost 10 cents per kilowatt hour or more. Apple will pay a premium over the initial price for the solar power, but that extra cost is confidential.

Apple’s Fort Churchill solar project in the north is also one of the first in the state to take advantage of Nevada’s clean energy-friendly “Green Energy Rider Program.” Companies like Apple voluntarily pay the extra cost associated with developing and buying clean energy, like a solar or wind farm, so that other power customers can avoid higher electricity bills.

在“绿色能源骑士计划”之前，对于苹果这种大客户来说，不管它想购买的是哪种能源发的电，内华达州的能源部门都是不会轻易让它支付溢价的。这似乎看起来有些奇怪，然而电力行业和州立监管部门的反应往往就是这么缓慢。

内华达州在2013年年底，也就是苹果开始寻求在内华达州建立它的第一座清洁能源项目之后，批准了“绿色能源骑士计划”。苹果也成了该计划的首家客户。

今年年初，内华达州监管机构迅速批准苹果公司在该州南部建立第二座太阳能发电厂。

通过在内华达州建设的这两座发电站，苹果无疑学到了其太阳能项目未来如何继续发展的经验。去年年初，苹果宣布将斥资8.48亿美元，从加州中部蒙特利县一座太阳能发电站购买电力。目前，这座发电站的施工方第一太阳能公司还在紧张地施工中，落成后的发电载荷预计能达到130兆瓦。

这个项目的规模着实不小，几乎是巨石城II发电站的3倍，丘吉尔堡发电站的7倍。而此次苹果采取了传统的电力采购结构，意味着这笔交易很可能对于苹果来说很划算。苹果还打算在15年之内，将合同规模翻一番，达到280兆瓦。

看来，苹果公司是无论买多少太阳能都不嫌多。

据分析师萨姆•杰斐估算，苹果在加州那笔交易中同意支付的电价约为8.2美分/千瓦时。

杰斐认为，该协议到了2030年将是“极为划算的”，因为那时受通货膨胀的影响，电费必将显著增高。

然而为了达成这项太阳能协议，苹果公司和整个太阳能产业都经历了数年学习。在推动商用太阳能向主流产业转型的过程中，苹果公司扮演了一个相当重要的角色。

朝阳产业需要有财力雄厚的大客户来支持，而苹果公司就是全力支持太阳能产业的重要用户之一。

SunPower公司的维尔纳表示，5年前，像苹果这样的公司购买太阳能，主要是为了在环保问题上做做姿态。但是随着太阳能产业经历了几年的创新，成本和风险都有所降低，这些公司现在购买太阳能则主要是出于经济账。“他们发现这东西是管用的。如今，太阳能正像滚雪球一般增长。”维尔纳还表示，苹果公司的确推动了SunPower的创新。

苹果的例子还让电力公司和各州的能源委员会意识到，像苹果这样积极进取的大企业，无论是在太阳能的价格过高还是降低时，都会坚持购买太阳能。而且它在内华达州和北卡罗莱纳州都是这样做的。

从这些方面看，苹果堪称是太阳能领域真正的先行者。如今，随着太阳能发电厂雨后春笋般建立起来，苹果也必然会从中获益。（财富中文网）

译者：朴成奎

审校：任文科

It might seem strange that before the Green Rider Program, Nevada’s regulated energy sector wouldn’t easily let rich customers like Apple pay more to buy whatever kind of power they wanted. But such is the ways of the often slow-moving electricity industry and state regulatory bodies.

Nevada approved the Green Rider program in late 2013, a year after Apple started looking to build its first clean energy project in the state. And Apple managed to be the program’s first customer.

Earlier this year, Nevada regulators quickly approved Apple’s planned southern solar farm.

The lessons learned by Apple from its smaller northern Nevada solar project and now the larger one to the south will undoubtedly help it decide how to go forward with future solar projects. Early last year, Apple announced plans to spend $848 million to buy solar power from a huge 130 megawatt solar panel project under construction by solar developer First Solar FSLR -4.28% in Monterey County, in central California.

That project’s large size—almost three times the size of Apple’s one near Las Vegas and seven times the size of Fort Churchill—as well the traditional power purchase structure means that it’s likely a very good deal for Apple. Apple also plans to more than double the size of that contract to 280 megawatts in another 15 years or so.

The company just can’t get enough of solar.

Analyst Sam Jaffe estimated that Apple agreed to pay around 8.2 cents per kilowatt hour in its California deal.

Jaffe predicted that the agreementwould look like “an extreme bargain” in the 2030’s when electricity rates will be significantly higher because of inflation.

But to get to this type of hot solar deal today, it took Apple and the solar industry years to evolve and learn. And in that way Apple played a significant role in helping the commercial solar industry transform into a more mainstream industry.

Booming industries need big deep-pocketed customers, and Apple has been a prime one for the solar sector.

SunPower’s Werner said that five years ago companies like Apple were buying solar power to make an environmental statement but today, after years of innovation in the solar industry, lower costs and less risks, it’s about economics. “They found out the stuff works. Today solar is snowballing.” As for Apple, Werner says the company has pushed SunPower to be more innovative.

Apple has also helped utilities and state power commissions realize that progressive large companies want to buy solar power and are willing to do so when it costs more and when it’s cheaper. The company did that in both Nevada and North Carolina.

In both of those respects Apple has been a true solar pioneer. And now the company is positioned to benefit from the solid economics of the solar boom.