Apple announced in August that it had applied for multiple permits allowing for the expansion and improvement of its Reno data center. The expansion includes the building of two new computing modules, bringing the total number of data center facilities on the Nevada site to eight.
The new modular data center creation is part of Apple’s $1 billion overall investment in Nevada. The site started with the initial construction of a 20,000 square foot rapid-deployment module that went live at the beginning of 2014. The Nevada data center has been planned to accommodate an additional eight modules. The buildings sit on 345 acres in the Reno Technology Park. The park consists of a total 2,200 acres, 1,000 of which are meant to be used for data center space.
In an effort to utilize data center sustainability techniques, Apple is also building a solar panel farm nearby, capable of providing the Reno data center with between 18 and 20 MW of power. The farm is being created to help supplement the facilities’ current supply of geothermal energy. The modules the farm will power are mainly used to store Apple’s online service offerings, including the iTunes and App stores, iCloud data storage and the company’s syncing services.
Apple was able to negotiate an $89 million data center tax incentive deal with Nevada over 10 years, but it is unclear if the rebates will be received. The deal stipulated that in order to receive the incentives the company would construct a Reno data center in the city’s downtown redevelopment area, which there has so far been no progress on.
