Described is an apparatus which comprises: a first power supply node to provide a first power supply, a second power supply node, and a third power supply node; a first transistor which is operable to couple the first and second power supply nodes; and a charge pump circuit to provide a boosted voltage to the third power supply node in one mode, and to recover charge from the second power node in another mode. Described is a memory unit which comprises: a DRAM which is operable to be refreshed; a gated power supply node coupled to the DRAM to provide a gated power supply to the DRAM; and a charge recycling circuit to recover charge from the gated power supply node after the DRAM is refreshed.