Meta’s Arizona data centre to use Ørsted solar power

A 300-MW solar park in Arizona owned by Ørsted A/S (CPH:ORSTED) will supply electricity for the data centre operations of US technology conglomerate Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META), the Danish energy group said on Monday.

The Mesa data centre will receive “the majority portion” of the photovoltaic (PV) farm’s output, which will be delivered by utility Salt River Project (SRP) through a contract with Ørsted. The power will be sourced from the Eleven Mile Solar Centre being built in Arizona’s Pinal County.

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Planned to span across an over-2,000-acre site, the solar park will be coupled with a 300-MW, four-hour battery energy storage system. The complex is planned to go online next year. Any generated and stored power not needed by the Meta data centre will be available to SRP's customers.

In Arizona, Meta has committed to procuring 50% of the output of AES Corp’s 100-MW West Line solar park, which was switched on earlier this year. The tech giant will also soon start receiving some electricity from the 200-MW Brittlebush solar park that EDF Renewables North America is building in Coolidge and plans to commission in 2024. All of these agreements will contribute to Meta’s goals of supporting its operations with 100% renewable energy and achieving net zero emissions for its value chain.