Facebook Alabama Data Center to Get Power From Two Solar Farms

Brian Eckhouse (Bloomberg) -- Facebook Inc. plans to light up a data center in Huntsville, Alabama, with power from the largest solar installations to be built in Tennessee and Alabama.

The Tennessee Valley Authority, a U.S. government agency that provides electricity to almost 10 million people in parts of seven southeastern states, said that First Solar Inc. and NextEra Energy Inc. have been selected to build the installations, according to a statement Friday. Terms and timeframes weren’t disclosed.

The First Solar project in Colbert County, Alabama, will supply 227 megawatts, and the NextEra one in Lincoln County, Tennessee, will provide 150 megawatts, according to the statement. Facebook, which has committed to run all its data center and offices with 100 percent renewable energy by 2020, said in the statement that its partnership with TVA will make that possible in the company’s first Valley-based facility.