One of the world’s largest and most valuable companies is one step closer to being the owner of the biggest proposed solar array and battery storage project in Oregon. And all that energy may go toward powering data centers in the Eastern part of the state.

After outbidding regional utilities with an $83 million offer in January, Amazon acquired the site of a planned 1,200-megawatt solar project and up to 7,200-megawatt battery storage capacity development late last month, according to the Portland Business Journal. But the $2.3 trillion tech company still has state regulatory hurdles to clear before it can begin construction, and a tight timeline if the company plans to take advantage of expiring federal solar tax credits.

The Sunstone Solar Project was originally proposed by North Carolina-based developer Pine Gate Renewables. The project is slated to be the largest solar and battery storage project so far in Oregon, with plans to be located on private land in Morrow County. On a sunny day, the solar panels could generate enough energy to power about 300,000 average households.

Pine Gate Renewables, which owns Sunstone Solar LLC, began its siting and permitting process in Oregon for the proposed development back in May 2022.

By November 2024, the Oregon Energy Facility Siting Council, the entity that reviews large scale energy facilities, issued a site certificate for the Sunstone Solar project.

But a year later, Pine Gate Renewables filed for bankruptcy, citing project delays and cost overruns.

Recent changes to renewable energy tax credit rules may have also been a factor in the company’s bankruptcy.

Under the Republican-backed One Big Beautiful Bill Act, or HR-1, the Trump administration changed when and how developers can receive tax credits for building renewable energy projects. The tax credits could fund between 30% to 50% of most qualifying large-scale solar and wind projects.

Now those same projects face tighter deadlines, leaving some developers footing a bigger bill for the complete project.

Sunstone Solar’s bankruptcy auction made national headlines earlier this year, when Amazon won a $83 million bid — over competitors like Seattle’s Puget Sound Energy, which dropped out after bidding $82 million.

Oregon Department of Energy’s senior policy advisor for siting, Sarah Esterson, said the agency has been in contact with Pine Gate Renewables about transferring the site certificate since November, when it filed for bankruptcy.

For now, Esterson said, the agency has been “informally” notified that the project could be transferred to another developer. If that happens, Pine Gate Renewables and the new owner of the project would have to file a joint request to transfer the site certificate, she said.

That would then get reviewed and approved by the Oregon Energy Facility Siting Council.

It could take between three and six months, according to Esterson.

Amazon has developed multiple large-scale data centers in Morrow County, and is one of the world’s largest developers of solar power, but has not publicly stated its plans for Sunstone Solar if it succeeds at buying and building out the project.

When asked if the power generated at this facility would go toward data centers, Esterson said she wasn’t sure.

“The recipients of the power that is generated from the projects that we regulate is not information that is provided to us,” she said, saying that it’s not something the Energy Facility Siting Council looks at or evaluates.

The Oregon Energy Facility Siting Council has reviewed and approved dozens of requests to transfer in the past, she said, but an entity like Amazon would be a first for the state.

For the transfer to be approved, Esterson said the new owner would have to comply with the standards and conditions under which the site certificate was already approved.

“The fact that Amazon has purchased it means nothing to us,” she said. “The existing certificate holder is the only one that can build this facility.”

The certificate was issued to Sunstone Solar, so Sunstone is the certificate holder — for now.

If Amazon or another future developer wants to change details of the solar development, that could trigger a new review process that could take up to 9 months, she said.

Construction for the facility must also start by Nov. 18, 2027, she said, “if it doesn’t start by then, then the site certificate is dead. So, this transfer needs to happen before that time frame.”

OPB reached out to Amazon and Pine Gate Renewables. They did not respond to requests for comment.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/03/11/oregon-amazon-solar-energy-storage-project/