Oct 31 (Reuters) - Facebook owner Meta Platforms ( META )

will buy all the output of Engie's planned

U.S. Sypert solar power plant, the French utility said on

Thursday, in line with attempts to use renewable sources to

cover a data-led surge in demand.

The plant, with an estimated output of 260 megawatts (MW),

is expected to start operating in late 2025, Engie said.

"Once operational, it will add to the existing Engie

portfolio of around 8 GW (gigawatts) of renewable projects

including solar, wind and battery storage in operation or

construction across North America," the company added.

Earlier this month, Engie announced a power purchase

agreement with Google for the supply of solar power

from its Chillingham plant, its largest U.S. solar project to

date.

U.S. President Joe Biden's administration has asked big

technology companies to invest in clean power generation to

cover a surge in demand driven by technologies such as

generative AI.

U.S. data centre power use is expected to roughly triple

between 2023 and 2030 and will require about 47 GW of new

generation capacity, according to Goldman Sachs estimates, which

assumed natural gas, wind and solar power would fill the gap.