Utility-scale power generator AES Corp. has signed Facebook parent company Meta to a pair of long-term power purchase agreements (PPA) to match 650 MW of energy capacity for the company’s data centers recently completed or currently under development.
The PPAs are supporting solar projects which AES is interconnecting into the Southwest Power Pool market in Texas and Kansas.
Under PPAs, the customer often does not receive the renewable energy directly but instead uses the transaction to match its power load with low or carbon-free resources feeding into the main grids. The deal also makes the solar and wind projects financially viable.
"AES has partnered with Meta to deliver reliable and affordable renewable energy that supports their data center growth and ambitious sustainability goals," said Andrés Gluski, AES President and CEO. "By providing energy solutions that offer fast time-to-power and low-cost electricity, we continue to be the partner of choice for companies, like Meta, at the forefront of artificial intelligence innovation."
Meta’s data center expansions are part of the overall industry spike happening due to incoming artificial intelligence training and cloud-based capacity load. The Facebook parent is working on a new $1 billion data center in Kansas City, Missouri (pictured), a $576 million site in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and another $800 million data facility in Minnesota.
Virginia-based AES is building out new power capacity adding to its current 32.7-GW portfolio in operation. The power generation firm has a backlog of 12.3 GW in signed long-term PPAs including supply deals with global hyperscalers such as Meta.
Additionally, AES is recognized by Bloomberg New Energy Finance's (BNEF) 2024 Corporate Energy Market Outlook, which ranked the company as a top provider of clean energy to corporations for the third year in a row.
