Meta has signed an agreement with Adapture Renewables, a developer, owner and operator of utility-scale solar and battery energy storage projects, to procure 330 megawatts of renewable energy from three solar projects under development in Illinois and Arkansas.
The two companies signed three environmental attributes purchase agreements (EAPAs), boosting Meta’s renewable energy sourcing. Meta, which is the parent company of Facebook, is one of the largest corporate buyers of renewable energy and reported net zero emissions for its existing global operations in 2020 thanks to its renewable energy purchasing power.
In the new agreements with Adapture Renewables, Meta is continuing on its renewable energy buying path.
The three new development projects are estimated to have an economic impact of more than $400 million, creating roughly 500 temporary jobs during the construction phase and 25 full-time equivalent jobs during operations. The three solar sites are in federally designated energy communities where a coal facility had closed.
"We are proud to partner with progress-minded, global corporate partners like Meta to drive adoption of renewable energy,” Jesse Tippett, vice president of power marketing origination at Adapture Renewables, said in a statement. “Working with Meta on these agreements was a delight. The Meta team was efficient and matched our dedication to scaling clean energy, bringing economic opportunities to the energy communities hosting our projects, and achieving three win-win agreements.”
The agreement comes as the United States is seeing a big boom in solar, wind, and other renewables, thanks in part to funding and incentives from the Inflation Reduction Act.
Meta is not the only major tech company with big purchasing power in the renewable energy space. Amazon is also one of the biggest purchasers of carbon capture and storage technology, as well as renewable energy. In 2022, Amazon was reportedly the biggest purchaser of renewable energy.
Big corporations like Amazon and Meta purchase renewable energy to offset their own electric consumption, effectively winnowing down their emissions. These corporate clean energy procurements can help companies fulfill their sustainability targets.
Meta is also one of a handful of major corporations to take part in the recently announced Clean Energy Procurement Academy, a program that aims to decarbonize supply chains. Amazon, Nike, Apple, and PepsiCo are also among the participants.