US independent power producer (IPP) Silicon Ranch has partnered with utility company Central Electric Power Cooperative to build a 100MW solar plant in Orangeburg County, South Carolina.
Under the agreement, the plant will supply power to Facebook parent company Meta’s first data centre in South Carolina, currently under construction at Sage Mill Industrial Park near Graniteville.
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Tennessee-based Silicon Ranch will build, own and operate the solar project in coordination with South Carolina’s state-owned utility Santee Cooper. Central will purchase the power from the plant to supply its 19 cooperative members. One of these, Aiken Electric Cooperative, will serve the Meta data centre, with Meta receiving all the renewable energy tax credits associated with the facility.
Both the data centre and solar facility are slated to come online in 2027.
According to the firm, nearly all the equipment sourced for the facility will be made in the US. “Domestic infrastructure and access to energy are among the most critical factors for economic development, and Silicon Ranch, along with Central, will help deliver the power generation that Meta requires in support of its investment in South Carolina,” said Reagan Farr, CEO of Silicon Ranch.
Additionally, Silicon Ranch will manage the site under its Regenerative Energy programme, restoring land with deep-rooted grasses and pollinator habitats.
Founded in 2011, the IPP has a solar-plus-battery storage portfolio of over 7GW in capacity. Silicon Ranch owns 50,000 acres and operates 3.6GW of solar PV, with 3.7GW under construction and a 12+GW development pipeline aiming to exceed 10GW by 2030.
This is the firm’s fourth project with Central, and its partnership with Meta now exceeds 1.5GW of renewable capacity.
Previously, Microsoft signed a multi-year agreement with Silicon Ranch through its carbon solutions platform, Clearloop, to deploy up to 100MW of community-focused solar projects. Silicon Ranch will develop, own, and operate these solar PV projects, primarily in underserved communities in Arkansas and Louisiana. The first four projects are set to break ground in the coming months, with three in Arkansas and one in Louisiana.
