Meta has agreed to develop a US$100 million, 100-megawatt solar farm in South Carolina with solar developer Silicon Ranch.

The solar facility will supply power to Meta’s planned AI data center in the state, which is expected to cost US$800 million.

Both the data center and the solar farm are scheduled to start operations in 2027.

Most equipment for the solar installation will be produced in the US, the companies said.

This marks the eighteenth agreement between Meta and Silicon Ranch.

Silicon Ranch said its deals with Meta have helped drive over US$2.5 billion in investments.

Meta has added more than 2 gigawatts of solar capacity in 2025. The company is also pursuing additional solar projects in Ohio, Kansas, and Texas.

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🔗 Source: TechCrunch

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ Data centers are driving strategic co-location of renewable energy projects

Meta’s South Carolina deal reveals how tech giants are increasingly pairing data center construction directly with renewable energy development to solve two critical business challenges simultaneously.

The company is spending $100 million on a 100-megawatt solar farm alongside its $800 million AI data center, with both facilities scheduled to begin operations in 2027 1. This represents about 12.5% of the total project cost dedicated specifically to energy infrastructure.

The timing alignment is crucial because solar power helps reduce “time-to-power,” which the companies identified as “a key bottleneck for any new data center” 1.

This approach has proven successful for Meta before. Their Virginia data center operation sources 100% renewable energy through a partnership with Dominion Energy, while committing $1.5 billion total across multiple buildings 2.

The strategy addresses both cost management and operational speed, as renewable projects can often be deployed faster than waiting for traditional grid capacity upgrades in high-demand areas.

2️⃣ AI expansion is creating unprecedented energy infrastructure investment

The scale of energy demand from AI and data centers is driving massive infrastructure investments that extend far beyond individual companies.

Data centers alone are projected to drive approximately 44 GW of additional electricity demand by 2030, according to industry projections 3. Meta’s addition of over 2 gigawatts of solar capacity in 2024 alone represents just one company’s contribution to this broader trend 1.

The broader renewable energy sector saw $500 billion invested specifically in solar photovoltaic projects in 2024, surpassing all other generation sources 4.

This demand surge is reshaping energy markets. Clean energy manufacturing investment has tripled since the Inflation Reduction Act, reaching $14 billion in Q1 2025, primarily driven by the need to support expanding digital infrastructure 5.

The combination of AI’s rapid growth and the tech sector’s sustainability commitments is creating a fundamental shift in how energy infrastructure gets financed and deployed across the United States.

Recent Meta developments

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