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> Apple has completed construction of two of the world’s largest onshore wind turbines, a source of clean, renewable energy that is now operational. Located nea

> Apple has completed construction of two of the world’s largest onshore wind turbines, a source of clean, renewable energy that is now operational. Located near the Danish town of Esbjerg, the 200-meter-tall turbines are expected to produce 62 gigawatt hours each year — enough to power almost 20,000 homes — and will act as a test site for powerful offshore wind turbines. The power produced at Esbjerg will support Apple’s data center in Viborg, with all surplus energy going into the Danish grid. funny how they mention "enough to power almost 20,000 homes" but then say the power goes to Apple's data center. And I bet Esbjerg residents are thrilled that their skyline is now full of wind turbines that power Apple's data center while Apple pays almost no taxes.

ic0n0cl4st 6y ago
If you had ever been there you would know that the residents are left-leaning, forward thinking people who are very proud of those wind turbines. They are incredibly eco-conscious and would roll their eyes at your statement, invite you in for tea and tell you how proud they are of those turbines. Esbjerg is one of my favorite places in the world, also the tiny island next to it called Fanø. I’ve been there twice every year for the past 7 years. I was married there. Almost all of the (Fanø) houses are thatched-roofed hobbit houses, people rarely knock before entering neighbors’ houses and it is super quiet (except for the fog horn). Esbjerg is a small (70k) person university city, lots of student co-ops, some industry and a strange phenomenon of stolen / discarded bicycles laying on the side of the roads (not downtown, but a km out of the center on the through-roads). The uni there has great environmental science, chemical engineering, biology, and marine biology (and marine archaeology!) programs. I couldn’t imagine a place where this is more appropriate.
- supergirl 6y ago
  sounds like it's a nice, picturesque, quiet place. now they got 200 wind turbines powering Apple's data center. it's not even powering their homes. how are they benefiting from this exactly? what are they proud of? Apple is just going to open more data centers, hardly eco-friendly. Related from Germany, Netherlands: https://www.datacenter-forum.com/datacenter-forum/datacenter-gate-dutch-province-to-court-to-ban-energy-guzzling-microsoft-data-center https://www.datacenter-forum.com/datacenter-forum/datacenter... https://www.dw.com/en/the-germans-fighting-wind-farms-close-to-their-homes/a-51417653 https://www.dw.com/en/the-germans-fighting-wind-farms-close-....
  - ic0n0cl4st 6y ago
    To begin with, those wind turbines don’t build or wire themselves, now do they? Just the construction creates a lot of good jobs, so does the maintenance work involved. So does the infrastructure built and maintained to get that power into the grid. This is all good for the economy. The datacenter helps grow the tech industry here, the benefit of this should really be self-evident. All my comments above in terms of the construction and maintenance of the turbines also applies here. These are offshore windfarms in a quiet seaport city next to the existing industrial area. It’s not like these are downtown.
    - supergirl 6y ago
      data center and wind turbines don't need much maintenance. that's why both can be offshore. they need some low skill maintenance. so you shouldn't expect to see a tech hub growing around a data center or wind turbine farm. and they are not built there of course. data center is just a warehouse with server containers. wind turbines are probably built in germany
      - ic0n0cl4st 6y ago
        Sure, I’m sure you are 200% correct. This will be nothing but a resource drain, and will have $0 economic benefit whatsoever. That’s why so many regional and international governments clamor to attract datacenter projects. Because they are trying to get absolutely nothing out of it whatsoever. The datacenter and wind mills are just built in another country, flown in by helicopter, plopped down, turned on, and subsequently ignored and 100% self-maintained. I don’t think you can see beyond your dislike of wind power to actually understand the economic impact of large projects like this. Where did you get the idea that the viborg datacenter is offshore? https://appleinsider.com/articles/20/09/03/apples-viborg-denmark-data-center-is-operational-powered-100-by-clean-energy https://appleinsider.com/articles/20/09/03/apples-viborg-den...
      - ic0n0cl4st 6y ago
        I’m sure the construction of those other datacenters will also mean nothing to the economy. Also, as we have seen in The Dalles, Oregon over the past 15 years, the inevitable increase in fiber and power capacity to this region, which will attract dozens of other datacenters to the area, will also have zero economic impact to anybody whatsoever.
- PascLeRasc 6y ago
  That sounds like a beautiful place. I’m reading more about it but if you have any more stories or photos from your trips I’d like to hear and see them.

ic0n0cl4st 6y ago

If you had ever been there you would know that the residents are left-leaning, forward thinking people who are very proud of those wind turbines. They are incredibly eco-conscious and would roll their eyes at your statement, invite you in for tea and tell you how proud they are of those turbines. Esbjerg is one of my favorite places in the world, also the tiny island next to it called Fanø. I’ve been there twice every year for the past 7 years. I was married there. Almost all of the (Fanø) houses are thatched-roofed hobbit houses, people rarely knock before entering neighbors’ houses and it is super quiet (except for the fog horn). Esbjerg is a small (70k) person university city, lots of student co-ops, some industry and a strange phenomenon of stolen / discarded bicycles laying on the side of the roads (not downtown, but a km out of the center on the through-roads). The uni there has great environmental science, chemical engineering, biology, and marine biology (and marine archaeology!) programs. I couldn’t imagine a place where this is more appropriate.

supergirl 6y ago
sounds like it's a nice, picturesque, quiet place. now they got 200 wind turbines powering Apple's data center. it's not even powering their homes. how are they benefiting from this exactly? what are they proud of? Apple is just going to open more data centers, hardly eco-friendly. Related from Germany, Netherlands: https://www.datacenter-forum.com/datacenter-forum/datacenter-gate-dutch-province-to-court-to-ban-energy-guzzling-microsoft-data-center https://www.datacenter-forum.com/datacenter-forum/datacenter... https://www.dw.com/en/the-germans-fighting-wind-farms-close-to-their-homes/a-51417653 https://www.dw.com/en/the-germans-fighting-wind-farms-close-....
- ic0n0cl4st 6y ago
  To begin with, those wind turbines don’t build or wire themselves, now do they? Just the construction creates a lot of good jobs, so does the maintenance work involved. So does the infrastructure built and maintained to get that power into the grid. This is all good for the economy. The datacenter helps grow the tech industry here, the benefit of this should really be self-evident. All my comments above in terms of the construction and maintenance of the turbines also applies here. These are offshore windfarms in a quiet seaport city next to the existing industrial area. It’s not like these are downtown.
  - supergirl 6y ago
    data center and wind turbines don't need much maintenance. that's why both can be offshore. they need some low skill maintenance. so you shouldn't expect to see a tech hub growing around a data center or wind turbine farm. and they are not built there of course. data center is just a warehouse with server containers. wind turbines are probably built in germany
    - ic0n0cl4st 6y ago
      Sure, I’m sure you are 200% correct. This will be nothing but a resource drain, and will have $0 economic benefit whatsoever. That’s why so many regional and international governments clamor to attract datacenter projects. Because they are trying to get absolutely nothing out of it whatsoever. The datacenter and wind mills are just built in another country, flown in by helicopter, plopped down, turned on, and subsequently ignored and 100% self-maintained. I don’t think you can see beyond your dislike of wind power to actually understand the economic impact of large projects like this. Where did you get the idea that the viborg datacenter is offshore? https://appleinsider.com/articles/20/09/03/apples-viborg-denmark-data-center-is-operational-powered-100-by-clean-energy https://appleinsider.com/articles/20/09/03/apples-viborg-den...
    - ic0n0cl4st 6y ago
      I’m sure the construction of those other datacenters will also mean nothing to the economy. Also, as we have seen in The Dalles, Oregon over the past 15 years, the inevitable increase in fiber and power capacity to this region, which will attract dozens of other datacenters to the area, will also have zero economic impact to anybody whatsoever.
PascLeRasc 6y ago
That sounds like a beautiful place. I’m reading more about it but if you have any more stories or photos from your trips I’d like to hear and see them.