META is turning to this Louisiana solar farm for some of its power needs

Meta, the owner of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and other worldwide social media platforms, will be filling some of its expansive electricity needs from sunbeams in northeast Louisiana.

RWE, a German renewable power company, has inked long-term power providing deals with Meta for future solar farms in Ouachita Parish and Illinois, the company said. The solar project is part of a larger move into renewables in Louisiana and off its coast for RWE.

Last August, RWE won a federal lease to develop 102,000 acres in the Gulf of Mexico south of Lake Charles for a wind farm. The Lafitte Solar project off U.S. 165 south of Monroe is the company's first land-based renewable power facility in Louisiana, though perhaps not its last. 

Hanson Wood, RWE Clean Energy's head of development for utility-scale renewables, said his company is in the early stages for other projects in Louisiana, Arkansas and the rest of the South. The company sees continued growth in demand for renewable power in Louisiana, though finding sites can be challenging.

Wood said solar sites in Louisiana tend to be smaller — and, therefore, offer less power production — and have more water than sites elsewhere in the country.

"But it's a market that we're committed to because we see a lot of energy demand, and we want to serve that demand as best we can," he said.

Lafitte Solar is expected to generate 100 megawatts of power on 700 acres. Some of RWE's U.S. projects are upwards of 300- to 400-megawatt facilities.

Meta and RWE, which bills itself as the third-largest renewable energy company in the United States, are only the latest solar entrants into Louisiana over the past nearly decade, including those in the Baton Rouge region. 

Often in rural areas, some Louisiana solar projects have encountered temporary building moratoria and even outright rejection over aesthetic concerns, the lack of permanent jobs and the loss of large agriculture tracts. In one recent example, a 2,200-acre solar facility proposed in St. James Parish was turned down in June.

Demand for some solar farms is being driven by utilities that say they are responding to the renewable power demands of their big industrial customers. In other cases, large corporations seeking to cut their carbon emissions, like Amazon and Microsoft, have announced plans to build Louisiana solar farms or buy power from them.

RWE provides power to utilities and large commercial and industrial operations, Wood said.

Construction of the $166 million Lafitte Solar is expected to start in the third or fourth quarter of this year and generate 140 temporary jobs and five to six permanent ones once built, Wood said. The solar farm is expected to generate $31 million in local tax revenue over the project's 30-year lifespan.

Jay Mitchell, an assistant district attorney who represents parish government, said the facility would be the first in the unincorporated part of Ouachita. The parish has modified its land use rules to regulate solar farm sites and the facility's plan for the isolated acreage is under review.

Mitchell said the facility is not expected to require a Police Jury vote. Local authorities and the company have agreed to a property tax agreement that will track standard industrial exemptions.

RWE and parish officials reached a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement and a separate community benefits agreement, which can direct dollars to specific projects or needs, company officials said. The details of the latter agreement weren't available.

Lafitte Solar already has its state and federal permits, a company spokeswoman said.

Wood said Meta does not have operations near the future Ouachita solar farm but the power will be sent to the grid. The location south of Monroe provided a good access point.

Meta says its data centers and offices have been on 100% renewable power since 2021. The Facebook parent company has invested $14.2 billion in 10.7 gigawatts of renewable power production, the company says.