By Arkansas Black Vitality Staff

WILSON, Ark. – March 11, 2026 – A Boston-based private equity group that previously claimed to have invested over $4 billion in one of the largest solar and energy storage projects in the United States announced today that it is withdrawing from the decade-long project, located in northeast Arkansas.

Swift Current Energy announced it has sold its Steel River solar and storage project in Mississippi County to West Coast-based Cypress Creek Renewables for an undisclosed amount. First announced in 2020, the project will be developed and constructed in three phases, each consisting of approximately 815 megawatts (MW) of solar generation paired with 240 MW/960 megawatt-hours (MWh) of battery storage capacity.

All phases are expected to be placed in service by 2029.

Cypress Creek, which has ongoing projects in 24 states, said once the three-phased development in Arkansas is completed, Steel River will be among the largest solar-plus-storage projects in the U.S., doubling the size of the Yakima, Wash.-based company’s current operating and upcoming portfolio to nearly 7 GW.

“Steel River reflects the scale of infrastructure required to meet America’s rapidly growing electricity demand,” said Jeffrey Meigel, chief investment officer at Cypress Creek. “Our platform is built to develop, finance, and operate projects of this magnitude. This acquisition marks an important step in strengthening Cypress Creek’s role as a leading energy solutions provider and long-term owner of large-scale U.S. energy infrastructure.”

Since first announcing the solar project in Mississippi County in 2020, Swift Current said it has signed a 20-year power purchase agreement with an unnamed technology company for the energy and renewable energy certificates associated with the first two phases of the project. The renewable energy investment group, which has offices in Houston and Boston, also said it has secured the discretionary permits for all three phases.

Steel River stated that the solar energy project will provide a significant new source of tax revenue for Mississippi County, directly benefiting local schools and supporting public safety and infrastructure upgrades. It will create 700 full-time construction jobs and 19 permanent positions on-site.

“Steel River will be one of the largest clean energy facilities in the country, supporting energy affordability and reliability while driving local and national economic growth,” said Swift Energy CEO Eric Lammers. “Swift Current’s sale of this monumental project, our largest to date, sets up our company for continued success and growth.”

Although Steel River has not yet disclosed the reason for withdrawing from the Arkansas renewable energy project, with millions already spent, it is situated near several of the state’s largest economic development initiatives in the same county and upstream in the Memphis area.

In October, Google announced a $4 billion investment in cloud and AI infrastructure in Arkansas through 2027, including the building of a new data center in West Memphis. Google stated it will cover all energy costs for the facility, which will be powered by Entergy Arkansas’s new 600-megawatt solar project and 350-megawatt battery storage system in Jefferson County. 

Across the river in Memphis, Elon Musk is rapidly expanding xAI’s $6 billion Colossus supercomputer in the Whitehaven community, a largely African American suburb. To power the facility, Musk has approved an agreement with the Tennessee Valley Authority to supply the xAI supercomputer with 150 megawatts (MW) of electricity, enough to power 100,000 homes. At full capacity, Colossus will require 300 megawatts of electricity to run X’s Grok chatbot and other AI and cloud computing services.

Additionally, Steel River’s name underscores its connection to Mississippi County’s largest industry. This area is home to steel mills operated by the Japan-based industrial giant Nippon Steel and U.S. competitors Nucor Corp. of Charlotte, N.C., and Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel. Mississippi County in northeast Arkansas is now known as the nation’s “steel corridor.”

 After President Trump approved Nippon’s proposed $14.9 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel last year, which had been previously blocked by the Biden administration over national security concerns, the Japanese steel giant has pledged billions of dollars in new investments in the U.S., including an expansion of the Big River Steel project in Mississippi County.

According to company officials, U.S. Steel has already invested $7 billion in Arkansas at the large industrial complex near the Mississippi River, including Big River Steel 1, which it acquired in 2021, and the Big River 2 plant it built last year. Overall, the two steel mills have a combined production capacity of 6 billion tons.

Nucor, the country’s largest steel producer, also operates extensively in Mississippi County in Blytheville, about 15 miles upriver from Osceola. Nucor’s industrial complex includes Nucor-Yamato Steel, Nucor Steel Arkansas, and Nucor Skyline, making this one of the top steel-producing regions in the United States.

Those Nucor mills produce hot-rolled, cold-rolled, galvanized, and painted sheet steel used in various end products, such as automotive, energy, construction, appliances, agricultural equipment, and heavy trucks and trailers.