Meta signed another great solar agreement on Thursday, ensuring 650 megawatts in all projects in Kansas and Texas.
The US company of utility and energy generation AES is currently developing solar projects, with 400 megawatts that will be implemented in Texas and 250 megawatts in Kansas, the company told TechCrunch.
Meta said he signed the agreement to feed their data centers, which have expanded to support their growing AI operations. The company already has more than 12 capacity gigawatts in its renewable energy portfolio.
AES generally signs new energy purchase agreements two or three years before commercial operations begin, and the average term for such agreements is 15 to 20 years, said spokeswoman Katie Lau.
This is the fourth solar agreement that Meta announced this year. All are in Texas, with one of those found in 595 megawattsanother in 505 megawattsAnd the last two blows 200 Megawatts each.
Texas has become a seedbed of solar development recently, leading the Nation in a new solar capacity installed in 2023 and 2024, according to the SOLAR ENERGY INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION. The State has a large sun, rapid permits and rapid grid connections.
The last two are particularly useful in implementing a new solar capacity. With grid permits and connections, a solar farm can be built in months. It does not hurt that the new solar energy is one of the The cheapest forms of new generation capacity, even before subsidies are considered.
In addition, data centers do not need to want construction to end since solar farms can be graduated, with the electricity that flows before the completion of the project. In fact, in a press release, the CEO of AES, Andrés Gluski, called the “rapid electricity of power and low cost” of solar as key attributes that have attracted hyperscalers as a goal.