Danish multinational energy company Ørsted has officially commissioned the Eleven Mile Solar Center in Pinal County, Arizona.
The hybrid project comprises a 300MW solar farm and 300MW/1200MWh battery energy storage system and is Ørsted’s first project in Arizona.
In December 2023, Ørsted signed a supply agreement with Meta to provide Meta’s 2.5 million sq ft (232,258 sqm) Mesa data center for the majority of the solar energy generated at the site.
The interconnection deal was made through the Salt River Project (SRP), an electrical utility serving the Phoenix metropolitan area. The data center is expected to reach commercial operations in 2026.
Solar and stored energy not needed by the data center will be available to SRP’s customer base.
In addition, Meta will also receive an allocation of 50MW from the 100MW West Line Solar Facility and a portion of solar energy from the 200MW Brittlebush Solar Facility in Coolidge, which, according to the company, will allow it to reach its 100 percent renewable energy and net zero goals.
James Giamarino, chief commercial officer, Americas at Ørsted, said: “The Eleven Mile Solar Center is Ørsted’s first project in Arizona. We are pleased to partner with SRP to deliver clean, affordable power to their customers, including companies like Meta that are prioritizing sustainability.”
Meta first announced and broke ground on the Mesa campus in August 2021, with phase one of the 396-acre site comprising two buildings spanning 970,000 sq ft (90,000 sqm). The company announced further expansion plans in May 2022 taking the site to more than 2.5 million sq ft (232,255 sqm).
Meta has signed several renewable energy supply agreements over 2024. In August, it signed a deal with startup Sage Geosystems to use its new technology to power the social media firm’s data centers.
Sage will use its proprietary Geopressured Geothermal System to provide carbon-free power for Meta’s data centers. The first phase of this project will aim to be online and operating in 2027.
In addition, it also inked a Power Purchase Agreement with RWE for 374MW of power from two solar farms in development in Louisiana and Illinois.
