First stage of Amazon’s 4 GWh Californian solar-plus-storage site is built

Virginia-based renewables developer AES Corp. has completed construction of the 1 GW first stage of the Bellefield solar-plus-storage site it is installing under contract from retail giant Amazon.

Each part of the two-stage project will feature 500 MW of solar generation capacity plus 500 MW/2 GWh of battery energy storage system (BESS) capacity and AES yesterday announced Bellefield 1 will enter operation in the second half of the year.

The second half of the project, in the clean energy hotbed of Kern County, California, is on track to complete construction next year, AES confirmed.

The Arlington-based developer said the complete Bellefield site would be expected to be the United States’ largest solar-plus-storage facility, would provide enough energy to power around 467,000 homes, and would offset more than a million tons per year of carbon emissions compared to conventional power generation.

AES, which is constructing the project under a 15-year deal with Amazon, said it has contracts in place to supply 10.1 GW of clean energy generation and energy storage capacity to data center “hyperscalers” – developers behind the world’s biggest data centers.

A press release issued by AES to announce completion of construction on phase one of the project said 700 unionized construction roles had been created for Bellefield 1 and predicted 1,000 are expected during peak building activity for the second half of the project. AES noted, however, solar panel installation was assisted by the artificial intelligence backed Maximo robotic system.

“Completing the first 1,000 MW of Bellefield demonstrates how rapidly solar and [energy] storage can be deployed to meet the growing energy demand of data centers,” said Andrés Gluski, AES president and CEO, quoted in the press release. “Our best-in-class track record of delivering renewables projects on time and on budget is deeply valued by our customers and is one of our key competitive advantages.”