Friday 1 April 2022

Meta and partners break ground on 70MW Tennessee solar farm

Meta, formerly the Facebook company, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), Jackson Energy Authority and Silicon Ranch have broken ground on a new 70MW solar farm in Madison County.

The McKellar solar project, part of TVA's Green Invest programme, will power the regional operations of Meta with 100% renewable energy.

Silicon Ranch, which will fund, own, operate and maintain the solar farm, expects to invest around $90 million (£68.7m) in the project, which is expected to create more than 350 construction jobs, with preference given to the local people and the military veteran community.

Construction is expected to be completed before the end of 2022.

Urvi Parekh, head of Renewable Energy at Meta said: “We are thrilled to be partnering with TVA and Silicon Ranch to bring this new solar facility to the grid in support of our operations in the Tennessee Valley.

“The more than 850 megawatts of new solar energy we are developing with TVA is an important part of our goal to support our global operations with 100% renewable energy. We thank our partners Silicon Ranch and TVA for sharing our commitment to have a positive impact on the communities where we locate.”

TVA plans to add 10,000MW of solar power capacity by 2035, supporting its target for 70% carbon reduction by 2030, around 80% by 2035 and achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050.