Facebook ‘likes’ more solar power under TVA Green Invest program

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The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) again is partnering with Facebook on a renewable energy project under the power agency’s Green Invest program for businesses.

As part of the new deal, TVA is working with developer Origis Energy to build a 150 MW solar farm and 50 MW battery energy storage system in Lowndes County, Mississippi, around 150 miles northeast of the state capital, Jackson. The solar-plus-storage project will support Facebook’s two data centers in the Tennessee Valley.

Facebook ranked among the Top 5 U.S. corporate renewable energy buyers of 2020.

Origis, through a long-term power purchase agreement with TVA that was signed on Facebook’s behalf, will own and operate the plant. The project is expected to create three to five full-time operations and maintenance staff. Origis will complete the facility in late 2023, pending environmental reviews.

TVA said this is the fourth renewable energy project and first battery storage system the agency and Facebook have collaborated on.

Facebook said it remains committed to powering all of its operations with renewable energy. To support that goal, the company signed a Green Invest agreement last August for a 70 MW solar project being built in Tennessee. In total since 2018, Facebook has announced purchases of 597 MW of power generated by multiple solar farms linked into the TVA electric grid in Alabama, Tennessee, and Mississippi.

Facebook ranked among the Top 5 U.S. corporate renewable energy buyers of 2020, inking deals for 725 MW. The company also ranks among the top green corporations globally, with a total clean energy portfolio estimated at about 6 GW.

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