Google breaks ground on nation's largest solar and battery project

Google broke ground on the Steel River Energy Center in Wilson, Arkansas, setting in motion Google's largest solar and battery storage project to date and the largest solar energy project ever built in the United States. The development in Mississippi County is planned to reach 2.5 gigawatts of solar generation and 2.9 gigawatt-hours of battery storage when complete in 2029.

The first two phases are already underway and are expected to deliver about 1.6 gigawatts of solar power and 1.9 gigawatt-hours of storage. The project will generate enough clean electricity to power about 315,000 homes, while also helping supply its nearby West Memphis data center, about 40 miles south of Wilson. The project is tied to a virtual power purchase agreement covering 100% of the initial generation, and the batteries will help provide electricity around the clock as Google works toward matching its power use with clean energy on an hourly basis.

The project is also being pitched as a local economic engine. Construction will support 700 jobs per phase, the project will contribute $300 million in tax revenue, and Google is putting $5 million into local energy affordability and school efficiency programs. Google says the project will use 100% American-made steel.

Across the Mississippi-Tennessee state line in South Memphis, environmental advocates and regulators have challenged xAI's gas-fired turbine operation at its Colossus 2 data center as unpermitted and built with little public notice. The Southern Environmental Law Center says the company created a de facto power plant without permits or community input and has been running dozens of methane gas turbines to keep the site online.

That fight intensified after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued guidance in January 2026 confirming that large methane gas turbines, even temporary ones operating for less than a year, require construction and air permits. xAI was later granted permission by the Shelby County Health Department for 15 permanent turbines, and the total turbine count reached 59. The company has also received Mississippi approval for 41 natural gas turbines at a separate site expected to generate about 1.2 gigawatts for its data centers.

The permitting battle has drawn in national political and civil rights groups. The Southern Environmental Law Center, on behalf of the NAACP and Young, Gifted & Green, appealed the Shelby County permit decisions, while Senator Sheldon Whitehouse pressed the EPA over xAI’s pattern of operating gas plants first and seeking permits later. Critics say the turbines would send smog-forming pollution, soot, and hazardous chemicals such as formaldehyde into neighborhoods that already shoulder heavy air pollution burdens.