Facebook to build next data centre in Virginia

Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, announced Thursday that Facebook has planned its next data center in Henrico County, which is just outside Richmond.

Facebook plans to invest $1 billion in the state and is putting $750 million into construction and $250 million into multiple solar facilities that will power the data center, according to McAuliffe.

"Working with companies like Facebook and many others, we are advancing Virginia's position as a global leader in the technology economy," McAuliffe said at an event announcing the decision.

The investment would create 100 full-time jobs.

Facebook will receive around $19 million in state tax exemptions through 2035, the Virginia Economic Development Partnership said.

Facebook already operates data centres in Oregon, North Carolina and Iowa and more are under construction in Fort Worth, Texas; Los Lunas, New Mexico; and New Albany, Ohio.

"One of the many important factors in our search for a new data center location is being able to source clean and renewable energy. We also look for great partnerships within the local community, robust infrastructure ... and a strong pool of local talent," Rachel Peterson, Facebook's director of data center strategy, said in a statement.

Facebook hit 2 billion monthly users in June and notwithstanding the Russian-bought ads controversy, its need for computing power will continue to grow with its user base.

The Commonwealth of Virginia celebrated on Thursday with the announcement that Facebook would be investing $1 billion to build a massive, new facility in the state.

According to commentators, the project would mean a lot of money spent on construction and 100 jobs in the data centre.

The company's $1 billion would go to a gigantic building where only 100 people would work.

According to commentators, these data centres would not require any people as technology today is all about less people and more machines which translates into more profit.

But even as they generate fewer jobs, states are still not averse to these investments, rather they are keen to get them anyway.