Meta will build 10 gas power plants to power the AI campus Hyperion

The technology company Meta will fund the construction of 10 gas power plants to provide energy for its large-scale Hyperion data center in Louisiana.

The project is being implemented in partnership with the energy company Entergy. According to the agreement, the parties will build seven new power plants — in addition to three approved earlier. The total capacity of the facilities will be about 7.5 gigawatts — enough to power more than 5 million homes.

Hyperion is one of the company's largest AI data centers. Initially, Meta planned to invest about $10 billion in the project, but with the expansion of the territory and partnerships, the total budget could reach $27 billion.

Earlier, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg noted that the scale of the campus is comparable to the area of Manhattan.

In addition to gas generation, the company also plans to invest up to 2.5 gigawatts in renewable energy sources, including storage systems.

The project is expected to increase the total capacity of Louisiana's power grid by more than 30%. At the same time, Entergy emphasizes that construction costs will be covered by Meta, not by end consumers.

The deal still needs to be approved by regulatory authorities. Experts, however, warn of possible risks: if energy demand decreases in 15 years, part of the costs may fall on consumers.

The Hyperion project is seen as part of a large-scale race to develop artificial intelligence infrastructure in the United States.

Source: fortune.com