Salt Lake City, UTAH October 25, 2022: Renewable energy developer rPlus Energies has signed a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) with PacifiCorp for a 400 MWac solar PV facility integrated with a 200 MW battery energy storage system (BESS) in Emery County, Utah. The project, named Green River Energy Center (the “Green River project”), is currently the largest planned solar plus 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 & CEO of rPlus Energies. “With the Huntington and Hunter plants due to reach end of useful life over the next ten to twenty 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.”

The Green River project was submitted in PacifiCorp’s 2020 All-Source Request for Proposals (RFP) and subsequently shortlisted and awarded through a competitive process.

“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, Rocky Mountain Power vice president of business policy and development.  “We look forward to our continued partnership and future collaboration.”

rPlus Energies has selected Sundt Construction to provide the engineering, procurement, and construction services for the combined solar and storage facilities. Construction is expected to 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 utilization of 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. 

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 allows large customers to 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 four years ago in late 2018.

The inclusion of storage to a large-scale solar plant enhances its performance on the grid, allowing portions of generation during the day to be stored and used at later times, and to increase the overall reliability of the system. 

About rPlus Energies

rPlus Energies develops modern power plants to contribute to the rebuilding of America’s energy infrastructure. Through partnership with the private sector, municipalities, and utilities, rPlus Energies develops utility-scale power plants to access a region’s best mix of renewable resources to enable a more dispatchable and reliable power supply. rPlus Energies has over 30 projects across 15 market areas in the U.S. in active development including solar, wind, pumped storage hydro, and solar plus battery. Across all technologies, the portfolio represents over 12 GWs of power output and over 7.5 GWs and 60 GWh of storage capacity. rPlus Energies is a subsidiary of The Gardner Group, family owned and operated since 1976, which is dedicated to building better communities through thoughtful, sustainable practices in developing and managing real estate, renewable energy and technology, and providing results-oriented philanthropy. Learn more at www.rplusenergies.com.

About PacifiCorp

PacifiCorp is one of the lowest-cost electrical providers in the United States, serving 2 million customers. The company operates as Rocky Mountain Power in Idaho, Utah and Wyoming and as Pacific Power in California, Oregon and Washington. PacifiCorp provides safe and reliable service through a vast, integrated system of generation and transmission that connects communities as the largest regulated utility owner of wind power in the West. For more information, visit www.pacificorp.com.