Social media giant Meta has added to its major investment in clean energy by signing a deal with renewable energy developer Invenergy to purchase long term commitments for wind and solar energy.
Meta’s data centers—the company has 28 across the globe—devour energy at a remarkable pace. Adding to the load, the company is now increasingly focusing on AI to support Facebook and Instagram, which requires substantially more electricity than traditional infrastructure. “We’re laser-focused on advancing our AI ambitions—and to do that, we need clean, reliable energy,” said Urvi Parekh, Meta’s Head of Global Energy.
Meta’s current deal with Invenergy involves four clean power purchase agreements (PPAs) that will deliver a total of 791 MW of solar and wind power to drive the company’s data centers. The agreements include the Pleasant Prairie and Yellow Wood solar facilities in Ohio, which will provide 440 MW of power. Filling out the deal will be the Seaway Wind plant in Arkansas and Decoy Solar center in Texas, serving up an additional 351 MW of power capacity. All of the contracts are expected to go online in 2027 or 2028. These recent deals add to last year’s Meta-Invenergy agreement that delivered 1 GW in energy generation.
Invenergy, based in Chicago, has grown as its served Meta, and has now produced more than 24 GW of clean energy projects across the globe. In addition to wind and solar, the company also develops natural gas and energy storage projects.
Meta has recently purchased a handful of contracts to acquire clean energy. It signed an agreement in early June with SGX Energy to build a geothermal power facility in New Mexico that will provide 150 MW of energy. And it agreed in May to purchase two solar projects from AES, a global energy company that specializes in sustainable energy production.
The deals are a bright spot for solar power in an otherwise difficult environment for the renewable energy source. The major legislation just passed by the Senate removes or limits most clean-energy tax credits. Wind and solar credits only apply if the projects are commenced by mid 2026 or produce energy by the end of 2027.
Still, it’s likely that tech companies with enormous appetites for energy will continue to invest in solar power. A solar power facility can be built in under two years, and can produce limited power before completion, making solar the fastest way to develop new power sources.
Meta, based on its promotion of its renewable energy projects, is a big supporter in clean energy. The company claims that it supports renewable energy projects across six countries and 27 U.S. states, and has spent $16 billion to build this energy infrastructure. It touts the creation of 74,000 total jobs (based on worker years) over 10 years due to its clean energy development. Along with wind and solar, Meta invests in nuclear energy, and has so far announced plans to develop up to 4GW of nuclear projects in the U.S.
