Facebook Signs Virtual Power Purchase Agreement for 80 MW of Solar

(Photo: Facebook committed to powering global operations with 100% renewable energy by the end of 2020. Credit: Facebook)

Digital Realty, a global provider of the data center, colocation, and interconnection solutions, announced this week the signing of a virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) on behalf of Facebook to support its renewable energy goals at data center facilities leased from Digital Realty.

Under the agreement, Digital Realty has executed a long-term renewable power purchase contract to secure approximately 80 megawatts of solar power capacity for Facebook. Digital Realty contracted with SunEnergy1, which has developed and will own and operate the solar project, to be located within Virginia Electric and Power Company territory in North Carolina. Under the terms of the agreement, all renewable energy certificates and environmental claims will be delivered to Facebook.

This agreement marks the first back-to-back utility-scale renewable energy transaction between a data center provider landlord utilizing a VPPA to underpin the renewable energy supply dedicated to a customer. Digital Realty 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.

Facebook in the Renewable Energy News

In May 2018, Facebook announced it would build a nearly 1 million-square-foot data center at the foot of Eagle Mountain in Utah. Eagle Mountain City, together with the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) and the Economic Development Corporation of Utah (EDCUtah) announced the data center will be constructed at the Sweetwater Industrial Park in Eagle Mountain, Utah.

Facebook’s investment includes more than $100 million in infrastructure, including a new electrical substation that will bring 1,000 megawatts of new power delivery capacity to the region to support additional economic development in Eagle Mountain and the surrounding area. The data center would be powered by 100%, net-new renewable energy through the utilization of Rocky Mountain Power’s available renewable energy tariffs. Facebook will purchase its own water rights and construct the required water infrastructure. The data center facility is designed to be incredibly water-efficient and will reuse water multiple times.

And in March 2018, Facebook and Adobe signed PPAs with Enel Green Power North America (EGPNA), the renewable energies division of the Enel Group, for the sale of energy produced by Enel’s 320 MW Rattlesnake Creek wind farm.

Facebook’s deal with Enel expands upon the previous agreement for the purchase of Rattlesnake Creek’s output, increasing the renewable power supply to Facebook’s data center in Papillion, Nebraska, upon its expansion. Under the agreement with Adobe, the power and renewable energy credits from a 10 MW portion of Rattlesnake Creek will be sold to the software company through a bundled power purchase agreement beginning in 2019 and running through 2028. In 2029, the plant’s total output will then supply Facebook’s data center, enabling a 100% renewable power supply to that location.

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