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Meta this week announced it was buying 200 megawatts of solar power from multinational electric utility Engie, adding to the tech firm’s sizeable 12 gigawatt renewable energy portfolio.
The news comes as tech companies ramp up their AI ambitions, adding data centers at a breakneck pace and increasing demand for power to the point that half of all new AI servers could be submitted to 2027.
Meta has been steadily adding new capacity, announcing in December that it would build a 2-gigawatt data center in Louisiana, though the campus will reportedly be powered by natural gas. The new solar farm is a short distance from one of Meta’s existing data centers in Texas.
Tech companies welcomed the nuclear startups, announcing a flurry of offers at the end of last year. Google and Kairos have joined forces deploy 500 megawatts of small modular nuclear reactors starting in 2030. Amazon signed an agreement with X-Energy for 300 megawatts coming online in the early 2030s.
Meta, not to be abandoned, announced in December that it was they are looking for proposals by nuclear power developers for 1 to 4 gigawatts of power in the early 2030s as well. Companies have until February 7 to submit plans.
But even as nuclear power grabbed a lot of headlines, renewable energy sources continued to quietly add capacity, allowing companies like Meta to expand their computing power today. Google supports a $20 billion renewable deal with Intersect Power and TPG Rise, and Microsoft is working with Acadia Infrastructure Capital on a $9 billion deal.
The speed at which renewables can be deployed will be one of the biggest challenges for nuclear startups. The new Meta solar farm, for example, is expected to be online in 2025.
