RWE has signed two long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) with social technology platform Meta to offtake energy from two solar farms currently under construction in the US.
Onsite construction is underway at RWE’s 274MWac County Run Solar project in the Clark and Cumberland Counties in Illinois and its 100MWac Lafitte Solar project in Ouachita Parish, Louisiana. Both solar projects are expected to be commissioned by late 2025.
According to the German energy company, the PPAs further reinforce its commitment in addressing the growing demand for clean energy through its US renewable energy portfolio.
RWE clean energy CEO Andrew Flanagan said: “RWE’s continued investment in the U.S. renewables market is underpinned by new opportunities to partner with leading technology companies like Meta, which are driving demand for clean energy to support their operations.
“Today, we are able to meet this moment and generate impact with our rapidly scaling U.S. renewables platform to drive decarbonisation across all industries, while fueling economic growth and job creation in those communities where we own and operate these facilities.”
The renewable electricity produced by the American solar projects will support Meta’s goal of powering its operations entirely with renewable energy.
The parent company of Facebook is said to be one of the largest corporate purchasers of renewable energy.
Meta renewable energy head Urvi Parekh said: “Partnering with renewable energy providers like RWE to bring new solar energy projects online is an important part of our approach to energy procurement.
“We are excited to scale our renewable energy contracts and this collaboration is an important demonstration of those efforts and our commitment to match 100% of the electricity use of our data centers and offices with renewable energy.”
Earlier this week, RWE secured two sites with a total capacity of 4GW in the North Sea as part of the German offshore wind auction.
The awarded sites are located around 110km-115km north-west of the island of Borkum on the border with the Dutch Exclusive Economic Zone.
Last month, RWE secured more than €818m in funding from the German government and federal state governments to implement certain hydrogen projects in the country.
To support two facilities, the company will receive €619m. The first of which is a 300MW electrolyser plant located in Lingen, Lower Saxony, while the second recipient of the funding is a hydrogen facility in Gronau-Epe, North Rhine-Westphalia.
Additionally, €199m was also granted to a consortium featuring RWE, which is developing a 100MW electrolyser plant at the port of Rostock, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
