D. E. Shaw Renewable Investments and Meta sign a 200-MWac solar project

pv MAG Jun 10, 2024 EST (United StatesDec 01, 2022 09:03 PM)

D. E. Shaw Renewable Investments (DESRI) recently announced the signing of a long-term renewable energy off-take agreement with Facebook’s parent company Meta. DESRI will supply clean energy to support Meta’s operations via a power purchase agreement (PPA) through the 200-MWac Long Lake project in Phillips County, Arkansas. “We are pleased to partner with Meta on the Long Lake project and now count more than 850 MWac of clean energy nationwide to support their operations,” said Hy Martin, Chief Development Officer of DESRI. Meta is one of the largest corporate buyers of renewable energy. As of 2021, they had contracts for more than 7,500 MW of solar and wind across their global portfolio, of which over 4,900 MW is under operation. Until now, Meta has already achieved 100 percent renewable energy for their global operations.

—said Urvi Parekh, Head of Renewable Energy at Meta.

Beyond supplying clean energy for Meta, Long Lake is expected to deliver significant benefits for local communities, including creating construction jobs and boosting other local economic development. “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,” said Martin. Acadian Renewable Energy, a joint venture between SunChase Power and Eolian, led the initial development of Long Lake. DESRI is part of the D. E. Shaw group and has an aggregate solar and wind capacity of over 6 GW. It will be Long Lake’s long-term owner and operator.