Google has broken ground on the Steel River Energy Center in Mississippi County, Arkansas, a solar and battery storage facility that will be the largest of its kind in the United States upon completion. The project is being developed in partnership with Cypress Creek Energy. Google is participating as both an anchor investor and an energy offtaker.
The full three-phase project will deliver 2.5 gigawatts DC of solar generation capacity and 2.9 gigawatt-hours of battery storage to the regional grid, with full operations expected by 2029. Google is initially supporting the first two phases, which will add 1.6 GWdc of solar and 1.9 GWh of battery storage. At full scale, the facility will generate enough electricity to power more than 315,000 Arkansas homes annually.
The project’s pairing of large-scale solar arrays with battery storage is central to Google’s strategy of sourcing carbon-free energy around the clock for its data centers. The storage component allows solar generation captured at peak daytime hours to be discharged back into the grid during periods of high demand — addressing one of the core limitations of solar-only deployments and supporting a more reliable regional grid.
A distinctive element of the project is its use of 100% U.S.-made structural steel, sourced locally from U.S. Steel’s Big River facility in Mississippi County and manufactured at PACO Steel’s Arkansas plant. Mississippi County is the nation’s leading steel-producing county, making the local materials sourcing a deliberate alignment between the clean energy buildout and the region’s existing industrial base.
Construction of Steel River is expected to create approximately 700 local jobs and generate an estimated $300 million in tax revenue over the life of the project. Google has also committed $5 million in energy affordability initiatives for Arkansas residents and K-12 schools, including community solar subscriptions for low-income customers in West Memphis, residential weatherization and health and safety improvements across Mississippi County, and energy efficiency projects in Arkansas schools. The commitment builds on Google’s existing Greater West Memphis Energy Impact Fund.
