Utah’s largest solar, battery farm now online in Emery County

EMERY, Emery County — The Beehive State on Monday became home to one of the largest solar power and energy storage projects in the nation when Salt Lake City-based rPlus Energies kicked off operations in Emery County.

Officially dubbed the Green River Energy Center, the project went online Monday following two years of construction.

Easily the biggest facility of its kind in Utah, it also becomes the biggest solar and energy storage facility within PacifiCorp’s six-state service territory of Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon, Washington and northern California.

Sundt Construction, the project’s contractor, installed nearly a million (996,000) solar panels and 385 miles of underground cables.

Measuring over 2,500 acres of project area, the facility boasts massive generative and storage capacity, with 400 megawatts of photovoltaic solar generation, along with 400 additional megawatts and four hours of battery storage.

This, said rPlus’ Chief of Staff Theresa Foxley, makes the center “a very dispatchable, reliable resource for the regional grid.”

At 400 megawatts, Foxley said the project could have the capacity to satisfy around 10% of Utah’s average power needs (the state has a daily demand of about four gigawatts).

“As the sun falls out of the sky every single day, we can use that to generate energy. But if that energy is needed by our population, say when the sun is beginning to set, or in the evening time, then that generation can be shifted to when the consumer calls upon it, or when it’s needed through the battery,” Foxley said. “And that’s something that makes this project very unique.”

The Green River Energy Center is proof that Utah still knows how to build.

rPlus Energies’ 400-megawatt solar and battery storage project is making a major contribution to energy abundance and affordability under Operation Gigawatt. 🔋

But this is about more than energy. When… pic.twitter.com/llufu1kLBi

— Governor Cox (@GovCox) June 22, 2026

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, who was in Emery County Monday when the facility became operational, emphasized the project’s role in fulfilling his Operation Gigawatt plans to double Utah’s energy production over the next decade.

“Operation Gigawatt is about ensuring Utah has the reliable, homegrown energy needed to power opportunity for generations,” Cox said in a statement. “Green River Energy Center represents the kind of large-scale energy investment we need to deliver reliable energy, support rural Utah, and help power the next generation of prosperity across our state.”

The facility is expected to generate over $55 million in property taxes for schools and public services over its estimated 40-year lifespan, according to a release from rPLus.

And during the facility’s ribbon-cutting ceremony Monday, project partners announced a $375,000 donation in scholarship funds for local students.

Utah Sen. John Curtis echoed Cox’s enthusiasm for the project, saying it will take an “all-of-the-above approach” to meet America’s (and Utah’s) growing energy demands.

“Green River Energy Center is an important example of that effort in action,” Curtis said in a statement. “This investment strengthens our energy infrastructure, supports Utah workers and communities, and helps ensure reliable, affordable power for families and businesses across the West. I congratulate everyone who helped bring this project from vision to reality.”

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