苹果四川首个太阳能光伏电站年底前完工

美国知名太阳能电力供应商SunPower今日对外宣布，他们将与苹果合作在中国启动一项新的大型太阳能工程。根据SunPower的官方新闻稿透露，这项工程将定位于中国四川省阿坝藏族羌族自治州，一共包含两个太阳能发电厂，其总规模达到40兆瓦。建成之后，四川盛天新能源科技公司将和SunPower以及苹果共同管理。

SunPower 表示，他们与苹果合作在中国地区启动的两个新太阳能工厂最高发电量为每年8000万千瓦时，同时还能够保护生态系统。

苹果和SunPower早就建立起了合作关系，这两家公司曾经在美国的加州、内达华州、北卡罗来纳州等地都建起了太阳能发电厂。苹果曾多次表示，他们致力于在其数据中心全部使用可再生能源，比如风能、水电、地热以及太阳能等，包括美国、德国、爱尔兰等地区的数据中心均是如此。

据了解，苹果在四川的首个太阳能发电站目前已经开始进入建设工期，预计会在今年年底之前完工。

April 16 (Reuters) - Solar panel maker SunPower Corp (SPWR.O) said it would partner with Apple Inc (AAPL.O) to build two solar power projects in China's Sichuan province with total capacity of 40 megawatts.

The projects, when complete, will be co-owned by Apple and Sichuan Shengtian New Energy Development Co Ltd, SunPower's project development joint venture.

Completion of the projects, which are expected to provide up to 80 million kilowatt-hours per year, is expected in the fourth quarter of 2015, SunPower said.

Shares of SunPower, which is majority owned by French energy giant Total SA (TOTF.PA) , were up 1.4 percent at $33.85 in early trading on the Nasdaq on Thursday.

China set a higher-than-expected target for solar power installations for 2015 last month as it seeks to boost renewable energy use.

China said it aims to install 17.8 gigawatts (GW) of solar power capacity this year, up nearly 20 percent from the original goal of 15 GW, with nearly 70 percent from the 10.52 GW of solar generation capacity China installed last year.

Apple, which uses renewable energy to power its data centers, said in February it would buy about $850 million of power from First Solar Inc's (FSLR.O) California solar farm to cut its energy bill.

SunPower and longstanding rival First Solar last month announced a limited partnership, 8point3 Energy Partners LP, to jointly own some assets. The companies also filed for a proposed initial public offering of the YieldCo.

The move is expected to generate stable cash flows for the companies that have been expanding their power plant businesses.