Commercial, Sourcing Renewables, Wind  -  October 20, 2017

Facebook data center revives Nebraska wind farm

Facebook will begin procuring energy for its Papillion data center project from a previously dormant wind farm project in northeast Nebraska, the social media company announced Oct. 19.

The company will receive the energy from the Rattlesnake Creek wind project in Dixon County, according to a report by the Omaha World-Herald. The project will produce a capacity of 320 MW, compared to the 200 MW that was originally planned for the project when it was first conceived in 2013, of which 200-MW will be allocated to the Papillion data center, according to a report by WOWT. 

According to the World-Herald, the Rattlesnake Creek project will be the second largest wind farm in Nebraska once it is built, following the 400-MW Grande Prairie project in Holt County.

Facebook plans for the Papillion data center to be powered by 100% renewable energy, including energy supplied by the Rattlesnake Creek project.

As part of the project, Facebook worked with the Omaha Public Power District to create a tariff that allows other companies access to the energy generated by the Rattlesnake Creek wind farm. The remaining 120-MW generated that aren’t allocated to the Papillion data center with be available to other buyers, WOWT reported.

According to the Omaha World-Herald, the wind project was originally planned by Tradewind Energy, a Kansas-based solar and wind project development company, in 2013. However, the project was halted when the company couldn’t find an immediate buyer.

The project is expected to begin construction by the end of 2017 and be generating electricity by the end of 2018, Brice Barton, vice president of development for Tradewind Energy, told the publication.

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