Social network's new Texas data center will be powered entirely by wind

folarin okunola

July 8, 2015 10:11 AM

The plant will use up 17,000 acres of land in Clay County, and for the meantime will pump spare energy into the local grid..

3D rendering of Facebook's new data center.

Reports say Facebook has announced that it’s building a fifth data center—adding to other four in Oregon, Iowa, NorthCarolina, and Sweden.

The latest addition will be also be entirely run on renewable energy just like the others.

Sources say on the new data center’s Facebook page, Facebook’s Director of Data Center Operations Ken Patchett explains that it will be “one of the most advanced, efficient, and sustainable data centers in the world.”

Sources also report that the center will be cooled by outdoor air instead of air conditioning (apparently that can work, even in Texas) and be powered by a 200MW wind energy plant just 90 miles down the road.

The plant will use up 17,000 acres of land in ClayCounty, and for the meantime will pump spare energy into the local grid as it produces more than Facbeook actually needs.

folarin okunola