Facebook is to power its data centre in Newton county in the US state of Georgia with electricity from a 107MW solar farm.
The Snipesville 2 facility will be financed, built, owned and operated by Silicon Ranch, which has signed a power purchase agreement with Walton Electric Membership Corporation on behalf of Facebook.
Walton was chosen by Facebook in March last year to supply electricity to the Newton data centre.
Snipesville 2 will comprise 350,000 single-axis tracking modules and is scheduled to come online in 2021.
Construction is expected to support more than 500 jobs, with the vast majority coming from local labour and subcontractors.
Additional economic benefits include revenue to Jeff Davis county that supports its school system.
Newton is Facebook’s ninth data centre in the US.
Silicon Ranch will implement a land management scheme called ‘regenerative energy’ at the Snipesville 2 site.
This holistic approach keeps the property in agricultural production.
Walton Electric Membership Corporation chief executive Ronnie Lee said: “Silicon Ranch is a proven performer. Their first solar project to supply the Newton data centre, Bancroft Station, is on time and on budget.
“We are extremely happy to be working with them again in meeting Facebook’s goal of supporting their data centre with 100% renewable power.”
Silicon Ranch co-founder and chief executive Reagan Farr said: “Walton EMC and the Georgia cooperatives are among the most innovative, customer-centric utilities in the country, and we are thrilled to expand our relationship with them and also with Facebook, one of the world’s leaders in renewable energy procurement.
“Moreover, we are proud to continue our substantial investments in rural Georgia and look forward to growing our partnership with Jeff Davis county.”
Facebook head of renewable energy Urvi Parekh said: “We are excited to be partnering with Walton EMC and Silicon Ranch once again to bring additional solar energy to the Georgia grid.
“This new project will provide additional investment in rural Georgia, help us reach our goal of 100% renewable energy for all of our operations, and further strengthen the solar market in the region.”