Google has signed a virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) to take 100% of the initial generation from the Steel River Energy Center in Arkansas, marking the largest solar-plus-storage project of its kind to break ground in the United States.
Developed by Cypress Creek Energy, the project will initially feature 1.6 GW of solar power coupled with 2 GWh of battery energy storage, enough to power roughly 315,000 homes annually. Upon full completion, the site’s total capacity is planned to scale up to 2.5 GW of solar PV and 2.9 GWh of energy storage.
Under the terms of the VPPA, Google will pay a fixed price for the project’s clean energy output to offset its grid-based emissions, though the financial specifics of the long-term contract were not disclosed. Because hyperscale data centers require continuous, uninterrupted power, tech companies frequently rely on traditional grid mixes and on-site generation while utilizing VPPAs to inject equivalent renewable capacity back into the local system.
“The investment supplies the grid at large, and passes along the benefits from the local power plant to all customers in Arkansas,” said Will Conkling, Google’s head of data center energy.
The deal comes at a critical time for corporate procurement. Tech giants are facing steep challenges in maintaining their decarbonization targets amid skyrocketing infrastructure growth.
According to the Environmental and Energy Study Institute, approximately 56% of the electricity powering U.S. data centers is currently derived from fossil fuels. Google’s own grid-based emissions rose 37% in 2025, driven by expanding artificial intelligence workloads. Data from BloombergNEF shows that Google, Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft combined to account for 49% of all corporate clean-power deals signed last year.
Cypress Creek Energy Chief Executive Kevin Smith noted that tech companies are increasingly seeking mega-scale projects to meet their volume requirements. “Big Tech is critical,” Smith said. “We’re almost like hotel developers, we find markets where it makes sense to build. The difference is that when we build, we’ve sold out all the rooms for 20 years.”
To secure financing and navigate shifting trade policies, the Steel River project is relying heavily on domestic manufacturing supply chains. First Solar will supply the PV modules for the project, while the structural steel will be sourced within Arkansas and the battery systems will be manufactured at LG’s facility in Phoenix, Arizona.
Sourcing components domestically has become a major priority for U.S. developers following federal tax-and-spending regulations that cap equipment costs derived from foreign entities. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that China still controls roughly 85% of global solar supply chain capacity and produced more than 80% of battery output in 2025, driving U.S. clean energy advocates to scale up localized manufacturing infrastructure.
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