Meta Buy 1 Gigawatt New Solar Power For AI Data Center

Meta establishes a new solar panel deal (doc. Meta).

JAKARTA Meta signed three solar power purchase deals this week. The company that houses platforms such as Instagram and Facebook is known to buy 1 gigawatt (GW) solar power.

These three deals increase the total capacity of Meta's solar panels in a year, which is more than 3 GW. This solar panel was purchased to support the development of increasingly massive artificial intelligence (AI) technology.

Meta focuses on purchasing solar panels because this technology is considered to have cheaper and faster costs in terms of development. Therefore, this resource is often used as a mainstay for technology companies that often expand data centers.

Of the three deals announced this week, the biggest deal announced was the purchase of 600 MW of solar power from a giant solar power plant near Lubbock, Texas. The project is expected to be operational in 2027.

Although the Texas power plant is not directly connected to the Meta data center, this energy will be channeled to the local power grid. This is done to offset the use of energy from the Meta facility.

The company also announced two other treaties in Louisiana with a total of 385 MW of electricity. Both projects are expected to be completed in the next two years.

Please note, the Louisiana agreement involves purchasing environmental attribute certificates (EAC) or renewable energy certificates. The EAC has received a lot of criticism because it is considered to obscure the true carbon footprint of the technology company's operations.

The EAC helps encourage developers to build renewable energy projects, but the incentives are questionable. A number of experts argue that companies wishing to offset the use of new energy from AI should encourage the development of new renewable capacity.