Facebook Prineville: Facebook and First Solar plan a 58 MW solar project for Prineville Oregon data center

Story originally appeared on Solar Power World

A solar power plant developed and to be built by First Solar will help support Facebook’s Prineville, Oregon, data center with 100% renewable energy.

Through a power purchase agreement (PPA) with PacifiCorp, the 58-MWac Cove Mountain Solar Project located near Enterprise, Utah, will generate renewable energy that will support Facebook’s Prineville Data Center. This agreement is part of a larger deal structure that will support the data center with 100% renewable energy.

“We have been pleased to work with both Facebook and PacifiCorp on a collaboration that creates value for all parties,” said Eran Mahrer, First Solar’ vice president of markets, origination and government Affairs. “This is an exciting example of how utilities and corporations are collaborating to achieve economic benefits for their stakeholders and also advance renewable energy objectives. We are proud to offer First Solar’s project development expertise to help enable this strategic relationship between PacifiCorp and Facebook.”

“We are thrilled that our Prineville Data Center will finally be supported by 100% renewable energy,” said Peter Freed, Facebook energy strategy manager. “We appreciate First Solar’s efforts to help us provide solar energy on the same grid as our data center.”

First Solar senior director of corporate renewables Karl Brutsaert noted that—as clean, renewable solar energy has become one of the cheapest sources of new energy generation available in the United States—companies like Facebook are able to meet their environmental commitments while making smart economic decisions.

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