rPlus Kicks Off 800MW Solar Plant
rPlus Energies has broken ground on Green River Energy Center, a 400-megawatt solar PV and 400 MW/1,600 MWh battery storage project in Moore, Utah. Completion is scheduled for 2026.
The development is one of the largest solar-plus-storage projects underway nationwide and will supply power to PacifiCorp under a power purchase agreement signed in 2022. This marks the third collaboration between the two companies.
Partners on the project include engineering, procurement and construction contractor Sundt Construction, while EliTe Solar will supply the solar modules and Tesla will provide the battery storage system.
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In July, the developer obtained more than $1 billion in construction debt financing for this project, with Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, KeyBanc Capital Markets, Truist Securities Inc. and Wells Fargo Securities contributing as coordinating lead arrangers. MUFG Bank Ltd. acted as administrative agent for the lenders. Sandbrook Capital also invested about $460 million in rPlus, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.
Upon completion, the plant, which will take shape on 3,200 acres, will provide energy to about 80 percent of Utahns who get their power from PacifiCorp’s subsidiary Rocky Mountain Power, the same source shows.
More solar power underway
Beginning next year, the U.S. solar industry is expected to consistently install a minimum of 40 GW of direct current annually, according to a recent Solar Energy Industries Association report. Between 2025 and 2029, the industry is projected to experience an average annual growth rate of 4.0% percent.
In August last year, First Solar Inc. announced the expansion of its solar module manufacturing capacity with a new development in Iberia Parish, La. The $1.1 billion facility, which is slated for delivery in the first half of 2026, will grow the company’s capacity by 3.5 gigawatts.
Maxeon Solar Technologies is also working on a $1 billion, 3-gigawatt facility. The Albuquerque, N.M., development is slated to come online next year and will be the firm’s first such project in the U.S., as well as the largest PV cell and panel manufacturing facility in the state.
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