Cypress Creek Brings 80-MW Ostrea Solar Project Online in Washington Under Microsoft PPA
Independent power producer Cypress Creek Energy has begun operations this month on an 80-MW solar project in the state of Washington after signing a power purchase agreement (PPA) with tech giant Microsoft.
Project and community members recently joined Cypress Creek on September 2 for a ribbon-cutting ceremony marking the completion of the approximately $180 million Ostrea Solar project in Yakima County. The privately funded energy infrastructure is part of a two-project plan for the region. In 2023, then-Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington signed a site certification agreement for Cypress Creek Energy to construct Ostrea and another solar project in the county.
Once both 80-MW sites are fully operational, they are expected to produce enough clean energy to power roughly 30,000 homes. For the offtaker Microsoft, the PPA will support its electricity and environmental attribute credit needs amid a rising AI infrastructure buildout, helping to offset surging carbon emissions.
While most renewable PPAs don't power the company’s operations directly, the investment injects more renewable energy onto the overall grid.
The Ostrea project will help Microsoft, headquartered in Redmond, Washington, alter how its power is sourced by adding dedicated clean energy to the Bonneville Power Administration transmission system. Cypress Creek states that adding this new generation supports the region’s grid infrastructure while supplying clean energy to Microsoft’s home-state facilities.
Alongside supporting the state’s power systems, Cypress Creek aims to help conserve 275 acres of critical habitat surrounding Ostrea Solar under a long-term land stewardship responsibility in Yakima County. According to a company release, Cypress will own and operate Ostrea for up to 40 years.
The company pledges to support wildlife migratory paths and restore healthy native vegetation across the solar site, which includes cropland that reportedly has not been actively farmed for more than 25 years. Over Ostrea’s operating lifespan, Cypress anticipates the project will generate roughly $13.3 million in state and local tax revenue.
Commercial operations of Ostrea Solar follow Cypress Creek’s June announcement of its Steel River Energy Center project in Arkansas. After securing $3.5 billion in financing to support Phases 1 and 2, the three-phase project is expected to provide 2.45 GW of solar and 2.9 GW of battery storage in the U.S. by 2029.
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EnergyTech Staff
Rod Walton is head of content for EnergyTech.com. He has spent 17 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist.
Walton formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.
He can be reached at [email protected].
EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids.
Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.