Meta signed one other big solar deal on Thursday, securing 650 megawatts across projects in Kansas and Texas.
American utility and power generation company AES is currently developing the solar-only projects, with 400 megawatts to be deployed in Texas and 250 megawatts in Kansas, the corporate told TechCrunch.
Meta said it signed the deal to power its data centers, which have been expanding to support its growing AI operations. The corporate already has greater than 12 gigawatts of capability in its renewable power portfolio.
AES typically signs latest power purchase agreements two to a few years before they start business operations, and the common term for such deals is 15 to twenty years, spokesperson Katie Lau said.
That is the fourth solar deal that Meta has announced this 12 months. All are in Texas, with one clocking in at 595 megawatts, one other at 505 megawatts, and the ultimate two hitting 200 megawatts each.
Texas has turn out to be a hotbed of solar development recently, leading the nation in latest solar capability installed in 2023 and 2024, in line with the Solar Energy Industries Association. The state has ample sunshine, quick permitting, and speedy grid connections.
The latter two are particularly helpful when deploying a brand new solar capability. With permitting and grid connections in place, a solar farm will be inbuilt months reasonably than years. It doesn’t hurt that latest solar is one in all the most cost-effective forms of recent generating capability, even before subsidies are considered.
Plus, data centers needn’t wait for construction to complete since solar farms will be phased in, with electricity flowing before project completion. Indeed, in a press release, AES CEO Andrés Gluski called out solar’s “fast time-to-power and low-cost electricity” as key attributes which have attracted hyperscalers like Meta.
