The announcement confirms an AL.com report in February of the growth of Facebook’s data center campus.
Related: Facebook plans expansion to Huntsville data center project; price could now top $1 billion
Facebook also said that once the expansion is complete, it will employ more than 200 people. That’s twice as many as first announced when Facebook said in 2018 it was building a data center in the Rocket City.
The data center, located in North Huntsville Industrial Park near Toyota Motor Manufacturing, will feature four separate buildings of servers supporting Facebook as well as Instagram. Altogether, it will be an almost 2.5 million square foot campus and represent an investment of more than $1 billion, Facebook said.
“Construction of the third building is well underway, and construction is already starting for the rest of the campus,” Facebook said in the announcement. “As of today, this campus has contributed over 5 million work hours to the Huntsville economy. Nearly 24,000 tons of steel have been erected and 500,000 cubic yards of concrete poured.”
The announcement also touted its data centers as “among the most energy and water efficient data center facilities in the world. The Huntsville Data Center will be supported by 100% renewable energy, including a solar project located in Muscle Shoals.”
The two original buildings are nearing completion, Facebook said, and will be online by the end of the year.
The city council in November approved expansion of the Facebook campus in North Huntsville Industrial Park. According to the amended project development agreement, Facebook purchased 197 acres from private owners adjacent to the original campus, which was about 250 acres purchased from the city.
Facebook first announced its plans to come to Huntsville three years ago and making a $750 million investment.
Facebook has been an active corporate partner in Huntsville, sponsoring Huntsville-Madison County Chamber of Commerce events and donating almost $1 million to Madison County schools last year to make digital technology more accessible and a $100,000 to the state’s under-construction School of Cyber Technology and Engineering located in Huntsville, among other community efforts.
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