Meta and Apex Clean Energy have executed a 144-MW solar power purchase agreement in Texas, granting Meta exclusive rights to all environmental attributes and renewable energy credits.

Apex Clean Energy and Meta announced Wednesday that they have expanded their joint portfolio to 1.2 gigawatts with the addition of a power purchase agreement for Apex’s 144-megawatt Starling Solar project in Texas. Developed in Gonzales County, the facility is expected to begin commercial operations in 2027, according to a company release. Under the agreement, Meta will receive “exclusive rights to all environmental attributes associated with energy” from the project, including all renewable energy credits. Apex told Utility Dive in an email that the structure of the agreement is confidential.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas’ August queue report lists the project’s anticipated commercial operation date as Jan. 28, 2028, indicating that the project has completed its security screening study and entered the full interconnection study phase. “The 144 MW project will add to the local grid that would not have been built without Meta’s commitment and reflects Apex’s focus on delivering interconnected, ready-to-build capacity on the accelerated timelines large-load customers require,” the release stated.

The new agreement brings Apex and Meta’s combined portfolio to seven projects across Texas, Virginia, Illinois, Kansas, and Iowa. Separately, Apex Clean Energy is developing the 200-megawatt Big Elm solar project in Bell County, Texas. Meta has substantially increased its infrastructure footprint in the state, including over $10 billion invested in a 1-gigawatt data center in El Paso. The company also signed a power purchase agreement with ENGIE to purchase 100% of the output from a 600-megawatt solar project in Stonewall County “to support its data center operations.”

This transaction continues a multi-year partnership between the two firms. Apex previously announced deals with Meta in 2019, when they executed a power purchase agreement for the 200-megawatt Aviator Wind East project in Coke County, Texas. In 2023, Meta agreed to an environmental attribute purchase agreement for the full capacity of the 195-megawatt Angelo Solar project in Tom Green County, Texas.