The VPPA is expected to support Facebook’s renewable energy goals at data center facilities leased from Digital Realty.
Digital Realty will buy power from the solar project that has been developed by SunEnergy1 and will be located within Virginia Electric and Power Company territory in North Carolina. As per the terms of the agreement, all the renewable energy certificates and environmental claims will be delivered to Facebook.
The company has worked in partnership with Facebook to structure the transaction to align with Facebook’s quality standards for new renewable energy projects within the same power grid as the data center load.
Digital Realty CEO A. William Stein said: “Our scale and position as a leader in data center sustainability enabled us to execute this first of its kind agreement in support of Facebook’s sustainability goals.
“Many of our customers have specific renewable energy requirements, and we work diligently to provide cost-competitive solutions tailored to their needs. We were able to take Facebook’s quality standards and timeline into consideration and deliver this solution in a competitive marketplace and at a competitive price.
“We are very pleased to be part of the solution enabling Facebook to achieve its renewable energy goals.”
Digital Realty claims that till now, it has contracted about 745,000MWh of renewable through long term power purchase agreements, which have helped in avoiding 525,000 metric tons of carbon emission annually. This is equivalent of powering nearly 60,000 US homes with renewable energy every year.
Last month, Silicon Ranch and Strata Solar have partnered to develop three solar plants with 202.5MW to power Facebook’s data center in Newton County, Georgia.
The solar plants include the Silicon Ranch Project with 102.5MW capacity, Calhoun with 80MW and Colquitt 20MW. The first project will be completed this year and the remaining two could be completed next year. The total investment for these solar plants is $230m.
