Meta acquires 1GW of solar power in new deal to fuel growing AI ambitions
- By Web Desk -
- Nov 01, 2025
Tech giant Meta signed a deal this week to acquire around 1 gigawatt of solar power as it aims to power its high AI ambitions.
This procurement by Meta brings its total solar purchases to over 3 gigawatts of capacity this year. The main advantage of solar is that it’s cheap and easy to build; as a result, it has become a go-to power source for tech companies as their data center fleets increase in size.
Meta recently finalized two agreements in Louisiana to purchase the environmental attributes of 385 megawatts of electricity. These projects are anticipated to be operational in 2027.
This follows a significant deal announced earlier in the week, where Meta acquired 600 megawatts from a large solar farm near Lubbock, Texas. That project is also slated to begin commercial operations in 2027.
The Texas power plant won’t connect directly to Meta’s data centers, but it will supply energy to the local grid, helping to offset the energy used by the facilities.
In Louisiana, the agreements involve purchasing Environmental Attribute Certificates (EACs), which enable Meta to offset its reliance on carbon-intensive power sources.
However, experts have criticized these certificates—often referred to as renewable energy certificates—for obscuring the actual carbon footprint of tech companies’ operations, which has increased significantly due to the rise in electricity consumption driven by AI.
For years, Adjustable Certificates (ACs) served as a vital tool in the energy transition. Introduced when renewable energy was significantly more expensive than fossil fuels, ACs allowed consumers to purchase electricity while offering companies a way to offset their emissions and the higher costs associated with renewable power. This mechanism effectively encouraged developers to invest in and build more renewable projects.
However, the cost of new solar and wind has fallen dramatically since then, with renewables undercutting new fossil power and sometimes existing coal and natural gas power plants. EACs don’t provide the same incentive as before, and experts question how much additional renewable power they stimulate.
Experts argue that if companies truly want to balance their new energy use from AI, they should be encouraging developers to build new renewable capacity.