Meta signed one other huge photo voltaic deal on Thursday, securing 650 megawatts throughout initiatives in Kansas and Texas.
American utility and energy technology firm AES is at present creating the solar-only initiatives, with 400 megawatts to be deployed in Texas and 250 megawatts in Kansas, the corporate informed TechCrunch.
Meta mentioned it signed the deal to energy its information facilities, which have been increasing to assist its rising AI operations. The corporate already has greater than 12 gigawatts of capability in its renewable energy portfolio.
AES sometimes indicators new energy buy agreements two to 3 years earlier than they start industrial operations, and the common time period for such offers is 15 to twenty years, spokesperson Katie Lau mentioned.
That is the fourth photo voltaic deal that Meta has introduced this yr. All are in Texas, with one clocking in at 595 megawatts, one other at 505 megawatts, and the ultimate two hitting 200 megawatts every.
Texas has grow to be a hotbed of photo voltaic improvement just lately, main the nation in new photo voltaic capability put in in 2023 and 2024, in accordance with the Solar Energy Industries Association. The state has ample sunshine, fast allowing, and speedy grid connections.
The latter two are significantly useful when deploying a brand new photo voltaic capability. With allowing and grid connections in place, a photo voltaic farm may be inbuilt months quite than years. It doesn’t damage that new photo voltaic is without doubt one of the cheapest forms of latest producing capability, even earlier than subsidies are thought-about.
Plus, information facilities needn’t look forward to building to complete since photo voltaic farms may be phased in, with electrical energy flowing earlier than mission completion. Certainly, in a press launch, AES CEO Andrés Gluski referred to as out photo voltaic’s “quick time-to-power and low-cost electrical energy” as key attributes which have attracted hyperscalers like Meta.