Apple Building £628m Eco Facility In Ireland

Apple (NasdaqGS: AAPL - news) is set to open a multi-million pound data centre in the west of Ireland (Other OTC: IRLD - news) as part of its biggest project in Europe to date.

The technology giant has said it's building the £628m online services centre in Athenry, County Galway, alongside another in Viborg in Denmark.

The Irish facility will help power services including the iTunes store, Maps and iMessage for European customers.

The centre – which is due to be finished in 2017 – will run entirely on renewable energy.

The plan includes an outdoor educational space for local schools, and a walking trail for the community.

It is expected to create around 300 jobs during the various stages of construction.

Apple's Chief Executive, Tim Cook, said: "This significant new investment represents Apple's biggest project in Europe to date.

"We're thrilled to be expanding our operations, creating hundreds of local jobs and introducing some of our most advanced green building designs yet."

Taoiseach Enda Kenny said it was a "very significant investment" and would have "significant knock-on benefits for the region".

Apple already employs more than 3,000 people in Ireland, primarily at its European headquarters in Cork.

The country is seen as an attractive base for tech companies because the predictable weather can reduce the cooling costs for the technology involved.