Facebook owner Meta signs Texas solar deal with Turkish renewables firm

Sabanci Renewables agrees long-term deal linked to two U.S projects as AI and data centres drive demand for secure power supplies

Facebook owner Meta has signed a long-term solar power deal with a Turkish renewables company as big technology groups race to secure electricity for AI, cloud computing and data centres.

Sabanci Renewables, a wholly owned subsidiary of Türkiye’s Sabanci Holding, has agreed a power purchase agreement with Meta covering the environmental attributes from two solar projects in Texas.

The deal covers the Lucky 7 Solar and Pepper Solar projects, which have a combined capacity of 220MWac, or 286MWdc.

Both are expected to be completed in the second half of 2027 and will add new renewable generation capacity to the ERCOT market, the main Texas power grid.

The agreement gives Sabanci a high-profile customer as it builds out its U.S. renewable energy business, while underlining the growing pull of technology companies in the American clean-energy market.

It also points to a wider push by European and near-European energy groups to secure a role Stateside as data centres, cloud platforms and other power-hungry technology operations look for cleaner sources of electricity.

The two Texas projects are expected to support more than 600 jobs during construction and create long-term employment during operation, according to Sabanci.

The company said they would also generate more than US$30 million in property tax revenues for local taxing entities over the life of the projects.

Lucky 7 Solar is planned at 100MWac and 130MWdc, while Pepper Solar is planned at 120MWac and 156MWdc.

Tolga Kaan Doğancıoğlu, strategic investments and operations president at Sabanci Group, said: “Entering into a long-term renewable energy agreement with Meta is an important step for Sabanci Renewables as we continue to grow our presence in the United States.

“For Sabanci Renewables, it also marks another strategic milestone in our US market journey and reinforces our focus on building durable partnerships with institutional and corporate off-takers.”

Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, has become one of the world’s largest buyers of renewable power as it expands the infrastructure needed to run digital services and AI systems.

Amanda Yang, head of clean and renewable energy at Meta,  added: “We’re excited to support the development of the Lucky 7 and Pepper solar projects, which together will add new solar capacity to the Texas grid.

“This long-term agreement with Sabanci Renewables reflects the kind of partnerships we value – ones that bring meaningful new energy resources online.”

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_{Main image: Sabanci Renewables}