Apple is scrapping plans to build a $1 billion green data center in Ireland.
The tech giant made the announcement on Thursday, citing delays in the approval process.
“Despite our best efforts, delays in the approval process have forced us to make other plans and we will not be able to move forward with the data centre,” Apple said in a statement on Thursday.
Apple had announced plans to build the data center in February 2015, choosing its location in rural Ireland to “take advantage of green energy sources nearby,” reports Reuters. However, two people appealed the plans, delaying its approval for the last three years.
While an Ireland High Court ruled in October that Apple could proceed with the data center, the appellants took the case to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court is expected to announce whether it will hear the case today, but previously warned that the case may need to be referred to the European Court of Justice, which would lead to further delays.
Apple will nevertheless proceed with a second planned data center in Denmark, and noted that the decision not to move forward with the one in Ireland would not have an impact on future projects in the country.
If it had been built, the data center in Ireland would have been one of the biggest in Europe, servicing Apple’s European business in online services for Apple Music, iCloud, the App Store, Messages, Maps, and Siri, according to The Independent.
