Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, announced a deal to purchase geothermal power from Sage Geosystems to support its US data centres. This move is part of Meta’s effort to build the necessary infrastructure for its energy-intensive investments in artificial intelligence (AI).
The 150-megawatt project, set to begin operations by 2027, aims to “significantly” increase geothermal power usage in the United States. Although the exact location remains undecided, it will be situated east of the Rocky Mountains.
Geothermal power harnesses the Earth’s internal heat to generate electricity, and the planned capacity could supply power to approximately 38,000 homes. The financial details of the deal were not disclosed.
Meta’s announcement coincided with a US Department of Energy event on geothermal development and comes as the Biden administration encourages major tech companies to invest in clean energy to meet their growing electricity needs. This demand surge, driven by the widespread adoption of energy-hungry AI technologies, poses challenges to Biden’s goal of decarbonising the power sector by 2035.
Sage Geosystems, a Houston-based startup, is developing next-generation geothermal technology that can be deployed in more locations compared to traditional geothermal systems, which currently account for just 0.4% of U.S. power generation. Backed by oil and gas firms Chesapeake Energy and Nabors Industries, along with venture capital firms Virya and Helium-3 Ventures, this project marks Sage’s largest to date, following its technology validation in the field two years ago.
A Meta spokesperson indicated that the energy from Sage Geosystems would feed into the power grid rather than directly powering specific data centres. Meta has been rapidly expanding and updating its infrastructure to accommodate the AI-driven demands, with capital expenditures expected to reach $37 billion to $40 billion in 2024, and infrastructure costs projected to remain a major expense in 2025.