Google and Cypress Creek break ground on Steel River Energy Center, a 2.5 GW Arkansas solar and storage project
Google and Cypress Creek broke ground July 14, 2026 on Steel River Energy Center, a 2.5 GW Arkansas solar and battery project, the firms said.
Photo by 女子 正真 on Pexels
Google and renewables developer Cypress Creek Energy broke ground on July 14, 2026 on Steel River Energy Center, a solar and battery storage project in Mississippi County, Arkansas, that the companies describe as the largest of its kind in the United States. Google is acting as an anchor investor and power offtaker for the project, which will reach 2.5 gigawatts direct current (GWdc) of solar capacity and 2.9 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of battery storage across three phases, with the first two phases, totaling 1.6 GWdc of solar and 1.9 GWh of storage, already under construction and due to power more than 315,000 Arkansas homes a year once complete, according to the companies.
What the deal covers
Cypress Creek Energy owns and operates Steel River Energy Center and has selected construction firm Moss as engineering, procurement and construction contractor. Cypress Creek’s own announcement describes Google’s arrangement as “a power purchase agreement (PPA)” for energy from the first two phases; several trade outlets, including pv magazine USA, instead describe the deal as a “virtual power purchase agreement,” under which Google pays for the project’s output and associated clean-energy attributes rather than taking physical delivery of the electricity, with the power itself flowing into the regional Arkansas grid. Neither company’s own release uses the word “virtual,” and neither has disclosed the financial terms of Google’s investment or offtake commitment.
The full three-phase build-out is expected to be operational by 2029. Cypress Creek closed $3.5 billion in project financing for the first two phases in June 2026, arranged by Barclays, BNP Paribas, Santander and Wells Fargo, according to prior reporting by pv magazine USA. Equipment suppliers named in Cypress Creek’s release include U.S. Steel’s Big River facility and PACO Steel for structural steel, Nextpower for solar trackers, First Solar for solar modules, and LG Energy Solution for battery storage cells.
A contested “largest” claim, and a discrepancy in the numbers
The description of Steel River as the largest solar (or solar-plus-storage) project in the country is a claim made by the companies themselves. Cypress Creek chief executive Kevin Smith said “Steel River is the largest solar project with energy storage in the country,” a claim echoed in Google’s own announcement; no independent ranking body such as the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) or the US Energy Information Administration was cited by either company to verify that superlative.
Reported capacity figures also vary slightly across sources. Google and Cypress Creek both state the full build-out at 2.5 GWdc of solar and 2.9 GWh of storage, with the first two phases at 1.6 GWdc and 1.9 GWh. An earlier pv magazine USA report on the project’s financial close, published in June 2026, cited a slightly different figure of 2.45 GW for the full build. Some outlets have used still other figures for the same project; this article uses the 2.5 GWdc and 2.9 GWh figures stated directly by Google and Cypress Creek in their July 14 announcements, since both companies agree on them.
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Location | Mississippi County (Wilson), Arkansas |
| Announced / groundbreaking | July 14, 2026 |
| Solar capacity, phases 1-2 | 1.6 GWdc (under construction) |
| Battery storage, phases 1-2 | 1.9 GWh |
| Full build-out (target 2029) | 2.5 GWdc solar, 2.9 GWh storage |
| Homes powered (at full build-out) | More than 315,000 Arkansas homes/year |
| Google’s role | Anchor investor and offtaker |
| EPC contractor | Moss |
| Phase 1-2 project financing | $3.5 billion (closed June 2026; Barclays, BNP Paribas, Santander, Wells Fargo) |
| Community investment | $8 million combined ($5 million Google, $3 million Cypress Creek) |
| Construction jobs (per phase) | About 700 |
Source: Google, “Our largest solar and battery storage project ever,” July 14, 2026; Cypress Creek Energy, July 14, 2026 groundbreaking release.
Local investment and the energy-demand backdrop
Google is committing $5 million toward local energy-affordability projects near the site, including community solar subscriptions in West Memphis, home weatherization and school efficiency upgrades, building on an existing local fund the company calls the Greater West Memphis Energy Impact Fund. Cypress Creek is separately putting in $3 million, starting with a $400,000 playground for the Rivercrest School District. Cypress Creek’s release cites Solar Energy Industries Association data showing solar and battery storage made up 91% of all new US electricity-generating capacity added in the first quarter of 2026.
Google frames the investment as part of sourcing local carbon-free power for its data centers, a need magnified by AI-driven computing growth. That growth has a cost: Google’s own 2026 Environmental Report, published June 30, 2026, shows the company’s 2025 carbon footprint was 18% higher than in 2024 and 81% higher than its 2019 baseline, a gap it attributes largely to data center expansion. Steel River is separate from Google’s earlier, $4 billion West Memphis data center campus announced in October 2025, which included a smaller 600 MW solar and 350 MW battery project of its own. For context on how solar-plus-storage compares with other grid technologies, see an explainer on whether renewable energy is really unreliable due to intermittency, and for a comparably large recent build, see coverage of a giant solar-hydrogen-storage plant switched on in China.
About Cypress Creek Energy
Cypress Creek Energy is a US solar and battery storage developer that designs, builds, owns and operates renewable energy projects. The company, led by chief executive Kevin Smith, has developed utility-scale solar and storage projects across multiple US states and has increasingly focused on projects that pair generation with battery storage to firm up supply for the grid. Steel River Energy Center, developed in partnership with Google as anchor investor and offtaker, is the company’s largest project to date and its first of this scale paired with a hyperscale technology company’s direct financial backing.
Sources: Google; Cypress Creek Energy; PV Tech; pv magazine USA
Featured image: photo by 女子 正真 on Pexels (free Pexels license).
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I specialize in sustainability education, curriculum co-creation, and early-stage project strategy. At WINSS, I craft articles on sustainability, transformative AI, and related topics. When I’m not writing, you’ll find me chasing the perfect sushi roll, exploring cities around the globe, or unwinding with my dog Puffy — the world’s most loyal sidekick.
