As part of the announcement, which is aimed at reducing Apple's carbon footprint, Taiwan's Foxconn — a supplier of key components for the US company's iconic iPhones — plans to build 400MW of solar energy in Henan province by 2018.

“We are committed to investing in green manufacturing,” said Foxconn chief executive Terry Gou in an online statement.

The 2GW plan will also include wind and hydropower projects, Bloomberg said.