Meta has signed a 200MW power purchase agreement (PPA) to procure energy from an upcoming solar farm in Arkansas.

D. E. Shaw Renewable Investments (DESRI), a renewable energy producer in the US, this week announced the signing of a long-term renewable energy off-take agreement with Meta.

The social network company will procure energy from the upcoming Long Lake Project (Long Lake), a 200MWac solar facility in Phillips County, Arkansas.

"DESRI is continuing to build out a portfolio of affordable, on-peak renewable energy projects to serve corporate and utility customers around the country. We are pleased to partner with Meta on the Long Lake project and now count more than 850MWac of clean energy nationwide to support their operations," said Hy Martin, chief development officer of DESRI. "We appreciate the ongoing community support of Phillips County and are pleased to develop this solar facility to meet Meta's renewable energy demand while providing economic opportunities."

Urvi Parekh, head of renewable energy at Meta, added: "We appreciate DESRI's partnership in helping us bring new renewable energy to the grid in support of our operations. This project is an important part of helping us continue to meet our goal of 100 percent renewable energy as we grow."

Long Lake is DESRI's first project in Arkansas; DESRI's solar portfolio with Meta also includes projects in Utah and Virginia. DESRI, part of investment firm D. E. Shaw group, will own and operate the site once it comes online.

The initial development of Long Lake was led by Acadian Renewable Energy (Acadian), a joint venture between SunChase Power and Eolian, L.P.

"Eolian and SunChase formed Acadian in 2015, anticipating the growing need for low-cost solar energy in Arkansas and the larger MISO power market that will directly reduce the passthrough fuel costs from conventional thermal generators while simultaneously producing valuable energy during the highest-demand, hottest summer afternoons," said Aaron Zubaty, CEO of Eolian.

Heather Otten, SunChase Power principal, added: "We are excited to work with DESRI again and to help repurpose transmission facilities originally built for fossil fuel generation to modernize and decarbonize the Arkansas electricity grid.

Meta doesn’t operate any data centers in Arkansas but operates facilities in neighboring states Texas, Tennessee, and Missouri.