Three recent announcements regarding clean energy procurements have joined the veritable cavalcade of news about huge-scale solar contracts between U.S. solar developers and tech giants.
Taken together, the announcements represent nearly a gigawatt (940 MW) in installed capacity now dedicated to the operations of Google, Meta, and Microsoft.
The deals include a 15-year, 500 MW power purchase agreement (PPA) signed between Google and Linea Energy in Texas, a long-term PPA between Meta and Zelestra for a 180 MW installation in Texas, and the successful commercial operation by MN8 Energy of facilities in Texas and North Carolina totaling 260 MW, whose power is promised to Microsoft.
Texas continues to surge in solar installations. Despite a recent SEIA/Wood Mackenzie report showing that U.S. solar installation volume was down 27% in Q1 2026, the state remained number one in the country, accounting for nearly 1.6 GWdc of completed installations in the quarter.
Google’s gargantuan demand
The Linea Energy/Google deal is the largest of the current bunch, a 500 MW solar installation called the Duffy Solar Project, a 3,526–acre site in Matagorda County, Texas. The project will be co-located with a standalone 235 MW/ 470 MWh battery energy storage system. Construction on the Duffy project is expected to begin in Q3 2026.
Google’s appetite for new sources of power seems almost limitless. The tech behemoth acquired its own solar development company, Intersect Power, in late 2025 for $4.75 billion, but continues to sign additional PPA agreements, including the Linea Energy deal and, in early 2026, two PPAs with TotalEnergies adding to 1 GW of capacity.
Meta and Zelestra further their collaboration
The 180 MW deal between Meta and Zelestra is the latest in a series of solar energy deals between the companies, joining PPAs on the 176 MWdc Skull Creek Solar Plant in Anderson County, Texas, the 200 MWdc Reclamation Solar Project in Gibson County, Indiana (both still under development), and the recently completed 81 MW Jasper County solar project in Indiana.
All Zelestra installations backed by Meta PPAs, totaling 1.4 GW of capacity, are expected to be operational by 2028. The companies say the projects will support a total of 400 jobs at peak construction.
In May, Meta announced it would lay off around 10% of its workforce, or approximately 8,000 people. However, the company has recently announced an initiative to provide cost-free training to people who seek jobs in the construction trades, such as electricians, welders and plumbers to support its need for these workers.
Microsoft and MN8 flip the switch
The final announcement in this round up has to do with projects finally coming to fruition. Commercial operations have just begun at two solar sites totaling 260 MW under a PPA agreement between Microsoft and developer MN8 Energy. The projects are the 120 MW Long Point Solar site in Brazoria County, Texas, and the 140 MW American Beech project in Halifax County, North Carolina.
In early 2026, Microsoft announced it had met its goal to match 100% of its annual global electricity consumption with renewable energy by 2025, having contracted 40 GW of new renewable energy supply around the world.
MN8 now owns approximately 4 gigawatts of solar capacity either in operation or under-construction, along with 1.5 gigawatt-hours of battery energy storage and more than 40 high-power EV charging stations across 10 states.
Comments
Please login to comment
Thursday, July 9, 2026
11:00 am – 12:30 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid
Thursday, June 18, 2026
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid
Wednesday, June 10, 2026
3:00 pm – 4:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid
Tuesday, June 9, 2026
11:00 am – 12:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid
Thursday, June 11, 2026
5:00 pm – 6:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid
Monday, June 1, 2026
5:30 pm – 6:30 pm CEST, Berlin, Madrid, Paris
Tuesday, June 16, 2026
6 am – 7:00 am CEST, Berlin
Friday, June 12, 2026
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid
The new pv magazine Global May issue is now available!
Mountains to climb
Available in print and digital formats.
A two-day conference in Austin, Texas, bringing together leaders in US solar manufacturing, equipment specification, and factory execution.
Entries open in seven categories: Modules, Inverters, BoS, BESS, Manufacturing, Sustainability, Projects.
April 01 – August 31, 2026
pv magazine USA hosts its third multi-day virtual event on advancing U.S. solar and energy storage markets, covering financing, supply chains, and distributed energy’s role in grid resilience.
You have no items in your basket.