Silicon Ranch, Central Electric partner with Meta to bring 100 MW of solar online in Orangeburg County
August 19, 2025
Project supports Meta’s 100% sustainability goal at its first data center in South Carolina
COLUMBIA, SC & NASHVILLE, TN – Silicon Ranch, owner and operator of one of the nation’s largest fleets of solar facilities and a community-focused energy infrastructure company, will partner with Columbia-based Central Electric Power Cooperative to build a 100-megawatt solar farm that will support Meta’s first data center in South Carolina.
Meta’s commitment will support Silicon Ranch’s investment in the Orangeburg County solar farm, adding a new energy generation resource to the fast-growing statewide electric cooperative system.
The agreement expands Silicon Ranch’s relationships with both Central and Meta. The 100 MW solar facility will be the fourth between Silicon Ranch and Central, a generation and transmission cooperative that secures power for South Carolina’s 19 distribution electric cooperatives. In addition, the energy infrastructure project is the 18th in the growing partnership between Silicon Ranch and Meta, representing well over 1,500 MW of renewable energy capacity that have catalyzed investments of more than $2.5 billion by Silicon Ranch across four states to support Meta’s operations.
As part of the agreement, Silicon Ranch will fund, build, own and operate the facility in coordination with the system balancing authority, Santee Cooper. Central will purchase energy from the facility as part of its statewide power portfolio, benefiting all 19 of its member cooperatives. Aiken Electric Cooperative, one of those members, will serve the Meta facility — currently under construction in the Sage Mill Industrial Park near Graniteville. In connection with its investment, Meta will receive all renewable energy credits associated with the facility energy.
The solar project represents a capital investment of more than $100 million in Orangeburg County. Silicon Ranch estimates the solar facility will generate more than $8 million in new tax revenues to help fund local schools, infrastructure and other community-identified priorities. Silicon Ranch will also care for the land under its Regenerative Energy® land stewardship program, which seeks to improve the quality of land by promoting deep-rooted, multi-species grasses and pollinator habitat under and around the solar array.
The project reinforces Silicon Ranch’s industry-leading support for American-made energy through its deep commitment to domestic manufacturing, job creation and economic development: nearly all the equipment Silicon Ranch has sourced for the facility will be made in the U.S.
The data center and Silicon Ranch’s Orangeburg County solar facility are both expected to come online in 2027.
– BUSINESS WIRE
About Central Electric Power Cooperative
Central Electric Power Cooperative, Inc., is a not-for-profit generation and transmission cooperative headquartered in Columbia, S.C. Together, Central and its 19 member cooperatives provide power to about 2 million South Carolinians across all 46 counties and 70% of the Palmetto State’s land mass. South Carolina’s independent, member-owned electric cooperatives formed Central in 1948 to pool their resources to purchase wholesale power more efficiently and effectively. As explained in its mission statement, Central “exists solely for the benefit of its members,” and one of Central’s most important jobs is to plan for the future power supply needs of its member cooperatives.
