Facebook starts to build data center in U.S state of New Mexico

The U.S. state of New Mexico held on Tuesday a groundbreaking ceremony for Facebook's high-tech data center, located in Los Lunas.

According to a press release sent to Xinhua on Tuesday, the state governor's office said that Governor Susana Martinez, who attended the ceremony, spoke highly of Facebook's efficiency and the contribution the facility will make to the state.

"They build fast as you see. They just announced it a few weeks ago and here they are moving dirt. This is what Facebook does. They move quickly and they have enormous impact on Los Lunas and New Mexico as a whole," Martinez said.

Just a few weeks ago, Martinez announced that Facebook had chosen New Mexico for its latest data center following a nationwide search.

The data center, which is expected to begin operation by 2018, will bring an initial investment of 250 million U.S. dollars in the first phase alone, with the potential for multiple phases, which would create more jobs and more investment.

In the long term, New Mexico believes that the project has the potential to attract other high-tech companies to the state and transform it into a hub for data centers.

In September 2016, Facebook announced plans to open the data center in Los Lunas, near the state's largest city Albuquerque, which will be equipped with the latest hardware designs and powered by 100 percent clean and renewable energy through solar and wind plants. Endi