Meta adds another 650 MW of solar power to its AI push

Meta signed another big solar deal on Thursday, securing 650 megawatts across projects in Kansas and Texas.

American utility and power generation company AES is currently developing the solar-only projects, with 400 megawatts to be deployed in Texas and 250 megawatts in Kansas, the company told TechCrunch.

Meta said it signed the deal to power its data centers, which have been expanding to support its growing AI operations. The company already has more than 12 gigawatts of capacity in its renewable power portfolio.

AES typically signs new power purchase agreements two to three years before they begin commercial operations, and the average term for such deals is 15 to 20 years, spokesperson Katie Lau said.

This is the fourth solar deal that Meta has announced this year. All are in Texas, with one clocking in at 595 megawatts, another at 505 megawatts, and the final two hitting 200 megawatts each.

Texas has become a hotbed of solar development recently, leading the nation in new solar capacity installed in 2023 and 2024, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association. The state has ample sunshine, quick permitting, and speedy grid connections.

The latter two are particularly helpful when deploying a new solar capacity. With permitting and grid connections in place, a solar farm can be built in months rather than years. It doesn’t hurt that new solar is one of the cheapest forms of new generating capacity, even before subsidies are considered.

Plus, data centers needn’t wait for construction to finish since solar farms can be phased in, with electricity flowing before project completion. Indeed, in a press release, AES CEO Andrés Gluski called out solar’s “fast time-to-power and low-cost electricity” as key attributes that have attracted hyperscalers like Meta.