Meta enters deal with RWE to help power growing operations, data center in Texas

Facebook and Instagram's parent company Meta Platforms Inc. is continuing its growth in Texas, striking a deal with RWE this week for a 200-megawatt solar project to power its operations.

In a Tuesday announcement, Meta and RWE, one of the nation's largest renewable energy companies, revealed a new power purchase agreement. This agreement will enable Meta to procure 100% of the electricity generated by RWE's upcoming Waterloo Solar project in Bastrop County.

The solar project, which is set to begin construction later this year, will help power Meta's growing regional operations and data center capacity. According to the announcement, the project is expected to support 300 full-time employees at peak construction and to produce an estimated $26 million in economic activity.

The agreement is RWE's third long-term contract with Meta in recent months. Meta entered power purchase agreements with the renewable energy company for 100% of its output at a solar project in Illinois and one in Louisiana.

“RWE’s partnership with Meta underscores the importance of unleashing American electricity generation from all sources to support load growth in Texas and across the U.S.," RWE Clean Energy Chief Commercial Officer Christoph Hunfeld said in the announcement. "These collaborations enable us to continue investing in communities across America like Bastrop County, helping to stimulate job creation and economic prosperity, while simultaneously helping companies like Meta match the electricity use of their operations with clean and renewable energy.”

Meta has been recently growing its business operations in the Lone Star State.

Meta has about 1,500 local employees in the Austin area. The company currently leases space in two downtown towers: about 120,000 square feet at 300 W. Sixth and Third + Shoal tower and nearly 600,000 square feet in the Sixth and Guadalupe tower.

The Wall Street Journal reported in January that Meta was in talks to reincorporate in Texas, possibly migrating away from Delaware where many major U.S. corporations are incorporated.

The news came just weeks after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the company's key content policy team would be moving to Texas. It has not been specified if the team will be joining the downtown Austin offices.

Meta is currently building a hyperscale data center facility in Temple, expected to be at least an $800 million investment by the social media giant.