Social media giant Meta has confirmed plans to build a data center in Louisiana.
The company this week announced a $10 billion development in Richland Parish, northeast Louisiana.
“We are excited to announce that Richland Parish, Louisiana, will be home to Meta’s newest data center — our 23rd data center in the United States and 27th in the world,” the company said on Facebook. “This custom-designed four million-square-foot campus will be our largest data center to date. It will play a vital role in accelerating our AI progress.”
Set on the 2,250 acres former Franklin Farm megasite between the municipalities of Rayville and Delhi, about 30 miles east of Monroe, the campus will total more than 4 million sq ft (371,610 sqm). Renderings suggest up to nine buildings are planned. Meta expects site work to begin in December, with construction to continue through 2030.
In an Instagram post, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the site would total more than 2GW at full build-out and would be used to train its Llama AI models.
“Today, Louisiana begins a new chapter. Today, we are delivering new jobs and economic growth on a scale unimaginable before we took office,” Governor Jeff Landry said. “Meta’s investment establishes the region as an anchor in Louisiana’s rapidly expanding tech sector, revitalizes one of our state’s beautiful rural areas, and creates opportunities for Louisiana workers to fill high-paying jobs of the future.”
Reports that Meta was coming to Louisiana surfaced last month. Meta was operating through an affiliate known as Laidley, LLC, with the development known as “Project Sucre.”
“Meta is building the future of human connection and the technology that makes it possible. And this data center will be an important part of that mission,” said Kevin Janda, Meta director of data center strategy. “Richland Parish in Louisiana is an outstanding location for Meta to call home for a number of reasons. It provides great access to infrastructure, a reliable grid, a business-friendly climate, and wonderful community partners that have helped us move this project forward.”
Meta has pledged to match its electricity use with 100 percent clean and renewable energy and will be working with Entergy to bring at least 1.5GW of new renewable energy to the grid through its Geaux Zero program.
Entergy recently proposed to develop a 1.5GW natural gas plant in Louisiana, near Holly Ridge, for a new data center customer. Reports linked the plans to the new Meta project.
“This partnership underscores Entergy Louisiana’s commitment to powering progress and driving innovation,” Entergy Louisiana president and CEO Phillip May said. “By supporting this transformational investment, we are not only delivering the energy needed today, but also building the infrastructure that will support a brighter, more sustainable future for all of Louisiana.”
Entergy Louisiana will fund new power generation and transmission infrastructure to support the data center. This will include the construction of three combined-cycle combustion turbines with a combined capacity of 2,260MW, two substations, six customer-owned substations, 100 miles of 500kV transmission lines, and eight new 230kV transmission lines.
Pending regulatory approval, the new generators are expected to come online between 2028 and 2029.
Meta previously signed a Power Purchase Agreement with RWE for a 100MW solar farm in Louisiana that is due live in 2025.
2024 has seen Meta announce facilities in Aiken, South Carolina, Cheyenne, Wyoming; Rosemount, Minnesota; and Montgomery, Alabama.
This year, the company launched a campus in Gallatin, Tennessee. The company has been linked to, but not officially announced, projects in Davenport, Iowa, and Indianapolis, Indiana.
