A US$ 1bn DeKalb Data center expansion project that is expected to increase the footprint of Meta, the social media giant formerly known as Facebook by nearly 2.4 million square feet, just got underway in Chicago, Illinois.
This was revealed by Tom Parnell, a Meta spokesman, saying that this expansion would turn the DeKalb Data Center, the construction of which began back in 2020 with the two buildings that have now gotten to 70% completion, followed by three additional buildings on a 505-acre site located close to Northern Illinois University in January, into one of Meta’s largest facilities.
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Parnell explained that the DeKalb Data center, whose planned expansion is expected to be completed by 2023, along with Meta’s other bricks-and-mortar data centres were the backbone for all the running apps and services of the social media company. The massive computing power provided by these data centres enables users to share information and connect to evolving social media platforms.
Expectations for the DeKalb Data center
The DeKalb Data center will be Meta’s 17th data centre in the U.S., which will provide users with both Facebook and Instagram content, and at full build out the facility is expected to create up to 200 jobs. Meta has already begun the recruitment process for the workers needed to manage the operations of the facility, and these positions range from technicians and electrical engineers to culinary staff.
Meta is also working on the green building requirement for the DeKalb Data center and has partnered with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, to develop a more sustainable concrete mixture for the project. In addition, two new wind energy projects for Morgan and DeWitt counties, are being looked into, which will provide the data center with 100% renewable energy.
The DeKalb Data center has received support from the Data Center Investment Program, which was created by the state of Illinois in 2019. Parnell also mentioned that Facebook was previously granted the data center sales tax exemptions, which are offered to companies investing at least $250 million and creating up to 20 new operational jobs at a data center.
