Technology giant Meta announced Thursday that it is investing nearly $1 billion to open the company’s first location in South Carolina, according to a press release from the governor’s office.
The parent company of Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp said in a press release that the new data center will be in Aiken County.
Meta, which was called a globally recognized company by South Carolina Secretary of Commerce Harry M. Lightsey III, will invest $800 million in the operation, which will also create 100 jobs, the governor’s office said.
The 715,000-square-foot data center, located in the Sage Mill Industrial Park in Aiken County, is expected to open in spring 2027, the release said. That’s in the Graniteville area, just off Exit 11 on Interstate 20.
Once operational, the data center “will be optimized for Meta’s artificial intelligence workloads,” company officials said in the press release. Meta’s data centers are part of the global infrastructure that brings the company’s technologies and services to life, the press release said.
“Meta’s decision to locate its newest operation in Aiken County is a major win for South Carolina’s thriving technology industry … and further fuels innovation,” Gov. Henry McMaster said in the release.
The data center’s electricity consumption will be covered 100% by renewable energy. Meta will work with local partners to add new renewable energy sources to the grid, according to the press release.
The Aiken County data center will be Meta’s 22nd data centernd data center in the US and 26and in the world, the governor’s office said.
Anyone interested in a job at Meta should visit the company’s careers page . Meta officials said the company is committed to hiring locally and working with local partners to build, operate, deliver and maintain its data centers.
“We are excited to make Aiken County our new home and are committed to playing a positive role here and investing in the long-term vitality of the community,” Kevin Janda, Meta’s Director of Data Center Strategy, said in the press release. “South Carolina stood out as a great location for our newest data center due to its great access to infrastructure and energy, its wealth of talent, and its great community partners. We thank everyone who helped us get here.”
