Renewable energy developer rPlus Energies has signed a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) with electric utility PacifiCorp for a 400-MWAC solar project integrated with a 200-MW battery energy storage system (BESS) in Emery County, Utah. The Green River Energy Center is currently the largest planned solar + storage facility in Utah and one of the largest facilities in the PacifiCorp system.
“Emery County, Utah, has been an energy community for a long time,” said Luigi Resta, president and CEO of rPlus Energies. “With the Huntington and Hunter plants due to reach end of useful life over the next 10 to 20 years, the fabric of the county is rapidly transforming. The Green River Energy Center continues the legacy of pioneering change and discovery in the region.”
rPlus Energies has selected Sundt Construction to provide the engineering, procurement and construction services for the solar + storage facilities. Construction will commence in early 2023 and is expected to create over 400 jobs as well as multiple permanent positions.
In addition to increased job opportunities and using construction-related firms in the surrounding area, Green River Energy Center represents a roughly $750 million investment in Utah’s economy and will provide substantial tax benefits to Emery County.
“We appreciate the opportunity to work with valued customers like rPlus Energies in helping to provide solutions to meet renewable energy goals,” said Craig Eller, vice president of business policy development for Rocky Mountain Power. “We look forward to our continued partnership and future collaboration.”
The Green River project adds to rPlus Energies’ recent project development achievements in Utah, including the 80-MW Graphite Solar project in Carbon County, which achieved commercial operation in June, and the 200 MW Appaloosa Solar 1 project in Iron County, which commenced construction earlier in 2022. Both projects hold long-term PPAs with PacifiCorp under Rocky Mountain Power’s Schedule 34 green energy tariff, which lets large customers purchase renewable energy generated on their behalf.
The addition of the Green River PPA brings rPlus Energies’ total contracted renewable generation capacity to over 1.2 GW, all executed since the organization formed in late 2018.
News item from rPlus Energies
