(The Center Square) — Ouachita Parish residents will soon power their homes and businesses with electricity produced at a solar farm near Monroe, as more clean energy production tied to Meta’s $10 billion data center in northeast Louisiana is set to flow to the local grid by the end of 2025.
Austin-based RWE Clean Energy on Thursday announced it has completed work on the 100-megawatt Lafitte Solar plant, an event celebrated at a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by Meta executives, Monroe Mayor Friday Ellis and officials from the Ouachita Parish Police Jury and Ouachita Parish Industrial Development Board.
Lafitte Solar was enabled through a long-term Power Purchase Agreement with Meta, which receives all environmental benefits associated with the project, including Renewable Energy Certificates, said RWE Clean Energy in a news release. Meta uses certificates to match its annual electricity consumption with the production of new renewable energy, supporting the company’s goal of attaining net-zero emissions by 2030.
“We’re thrilled to see the Lafitte Solar project reach this important milestone — not only adding clean energy to the grid locally but adding jobs to the local economy,” said Amanda Yang, head of clean and renewable energy at Meta. “Projects like Lafitte Solar are essential to achieving our clean energy goals while strengthening communities,” Yang said.
Natural and native vegetation around the solar plant’s perimeter promotes biodiversity and habitat conservation, benefiting the land and surrounding farmlands, said RWE Clean Energy. A flock of over 600 sheep will maintain healthy vegetation at the solar plant, further protecting local farmland and demonstrating how renewable energy co-exists with agriculture, the company said.
The Lafitte Solar plant will generate approximately $32 million in regional tax revenue over its operating lifetime, supporting public schools, law enforcement and emergency services, according to RWE Clean Energy.
Joe Holyfield, president of the Ouachita Industrial Development Board, said the solar plant has helped the local economy. “Lafitte Solar brought jobs and investment to Ouachita Parish at a crucial time. Our local businesses felt an immediate benefit, and we look forward to sustained growth as energy projects like these strengthen our region’s future,” Holyfield said.
RWE Clean Energy owns and manages over 10 gigawatts of operating wind, solar and battery projects in the United States, where the company has about 2,000 employees. RWE Clean Energy is a subsidiary of Essen, Germany-based RWE, a company with a 125-year history in electricity generation, coal mining, nuclear power and a variety of renewable technologies. The company is also a buyer of U.S. liquefied natural gas.
Meta recently signed agreements to buy electricity from two other solar plants in Louisiana, in Sabine and Morehouse Parishes, which will support a total of 385 megawatts of electricity generation.
