Apple Doubling Down on Data Center Construction in Reno

Apple has filed for approval to build another massive data center campus adjacent to the existing Apple data center site in Reno, Nevada, local officials told the Reno Gazette Journal.

Codenamed “Project Huckleberry,” the plans call for a new shell with multiple data center clusters and a support building. Its design is similar to the company’s existing campus at Reno Technology Park, called Project Mills.

Mills isn’t fully built out yet, and when it is, it will consist of 14 buildings, totaling more than 400,000 square feet.

Apple applied for a permit to build a new 50 MW electrical substation at the site last year to support its growth in Reno. The campus is currently being served by a 15 MW feed from the utility NV Energy, according to the Gazette Journal.

The new substation is crucial, as the power supply available there today is nearing capacity, Trevor Lloyd, senior planner at Washoe County, told the local news service.

Apple is the first company to have built a data center at Reno Technology Park, a site developed specifically to attract data centers and other energy-intensive high tech facilities. The area has seen a pickup in construction activity since Apple started building there in 2012, and economic development officials cite the Apple data center as the reason more high tech firms have decided to move in.

Tesla is building a massive battery plant nearby, and Las Vegas data center provider Switch is building its second campus there. Neither project is within RTP territory, however.

Managed services company Rackspace has expressed interest in building a data center at RTP.