South Korea's LG Energy Solution has landed the battery supply contract for the Steel River Energy Center, Google's largest solar-plus-storage project. Announced on July 15, 2026 alongside U.S. independent power producer Cypress Creek Energy, the multi-hundred-billion-won deal covers roughly 2 GWh of initial battery capacity, expanding to 2.9 GWh by 2029 — a signature win for LGES's North American manufacturing footprint.
What Steel River will look like
Located in Mississippi County, Arkansas, the Steel River Energy Center will pair 1.6 GW of solar with about 2 GWh of battery storage at start-up, then scale to 2.5 GW solar and 2.9 GWh storage by 2029. Google will off-take the facility's entire output during the initial phase under a virtual power purchase agreement previously reported in Google's Cypress Creek Steel River PPA. Cypress Creek is developing the site with domestic sourcing of batteries, panels and steel — a hedge against tightening U.S. rules on Chinese supply chains.
JF2 DC Link brings LFP scale to hyperscaler storage
LGES will supply its locally manufactured lithium-iron-phosphate JF2 DC Link ESS system from four U.S./Canada plants in Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee and Canada, with a fifth Lansing, Michigan site scheduled to start production later this year. The company aims to exceed 60 GWh of global ESS capacity by year-end, more than 50 GWh of it in North America. The Google contract follows LGES's earlier data-center ESS deal with DTE Energy in Michigan and adds to about 140 GWh of cumulative ESS orders through 2025.
Why hyperscalers now own the battery cell roadmap
The deal underscores how AI-driven electricity demand is reshaping the battery supply chain. Google, Microsoft and AWS are locking in multi-gigawatt-hour LFP cell contracts years in advance, giving Korean, Chinese and U.S. cell makers a firmer demand signal than the EV market can currently provide. LGES analysts see the JF2 platform — combined with a fully U.S.-built cell-to-system chain — as decisive against Chinese incumbents blocked by tightening tariffs and IRA rules. Related coverage: Philippines' largest integrated solar-plus-battery site.
Reporting based on coverage from The Korea Times, The Korea Herald and Korea JoongAng Daily.