Commercial, Solar, Sourcing Renewables  -  December 5, 2018

200 MW solar allocated to Facebook data center

Facebook’s new data center in Newton County, Ga. will be supplied with 100% renewable energy, courtesy of contracts with two solar developers for three new solar projects.

Walton Electric Membership Corporation (EMC), a consumer-owned utility, has executed contracts with two solar developers, Silicon Ranch (the U.S. solar platform for Shell) and Strata Solar; each will construct solar power facilities in southwest Georgia to support Facebook’s data center. In a statement, Walton EMC called the collaboration “the largest solar development project in Georgia.” The total investment for these facilities is expected to top $230 million and will be completed in 2019.

"We are thrilled to be working with Walton EMC, Silicon Ranch, and Strata Solar to bring more than 200 megawatts of new solar resources to Georgia," said Rachel Peterson, vice president of data center strategy for Facebook. "We are committed to supporting all of Facebook's operations with 100 percent renewable energy and these new solar facilities will help us meet that goal for our Newton Data Center. Developing these resources within the same electric grid that supports our data center will bring even more investment to the region."

Facebook first announced that the Newton Data Center would be powered with 100% RE, to be supplied by Walton EMC, in March. The facility is Facebook's ninth such state-of-the-art facility in the country. Facebook reported that these centers use 38% less electricity than the average data center.

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