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Dive Brief:
- Google announced Tuesday that it has signed an agreement with Cypress Creek Energy to invest in and receive power from what is expected to be the largest solar facility in the United States.
- According to a press release, Google will serve as the “anchor investor” and buyer for the Steel River Energy Center, a combined solar and storage project that broke ground Tuesday in Mississippi County, Arkansas. from Cypress Creek already Google Company Blog.
- In addition to serving as an investor, Google signed a power purchase agreement to receive power from the first two phases of the project’s growth. Google said the project represents the largest solar and storage project in its portfolio to date.
Diving knowledge:
Once complete, the Steel River project is expected to have capacity for 2.5 gigawatts of DC solar and 2.9 gigawatt-hours of battery storage. The facility will be built in three phases, with the first two phases featuring 1.6 GWdc and 1.9 GWH of online battery storage, the release said.
Google called Steel River “a game changer” on its company blog because it will pair solar panels with advanced battery storage systems. Solar and battery storage accounted for 91% of all new electricity generation capacity in the US in the first quarter of this year, according to a June report of the Association of Solar Energy Industries.
The project is expected to create 700 construction jobs during each phase and bring about $300 million in local tax revenue to Mississippi County over the life of the project. Google also committed $5 million to local energy affordability initiatives to benefit residents and K-12 schools in the state. Cypress Creek will add a $3 million community investment commitment starting with a $400,000 contribution to build a new playground in a nearby school district, according to the release.
Cypress Creek CEO Kevin Smith said the project will be built with solar panels made entirely in the U.S., and Cypress Creek said “almost all” of the steel for the project’s structure will come from the Mississippi County facility.
“Some people still wonder if a home solar supply chain is possible. This project is proof of that,” Smith said in the July 14 statement.
The facility is expected to be fully online by 2029. Google did not disclose the terms of its investment or hires.
For Google, the deal comes as the creation of artificial intelligence has fueled the tech and search engine conglomerate’s rise in emissions over the past three years. Google’s latest sustainability report found that the company’s carbon footprint in 2025 is 18% higher than in 2024 and 81% higher than its 2019 baseline.
