CIP acquires another 1 GWh Arizona battery

Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), through its fifth flagship fund designated CI V, has acquired the 1 GWh Beehive battery energy storage system (BESS) in Arizona, from EDF Power Solutions North America.

The 250 MW, four-hour duration project is located in Peoria, close to Phoenix. EDF Power Solutions began construction earlier in 2025 and CIP will now oversee the remaining work, with commercial operations targeted for the first half of 2026.

Beehive is backed by a 20-year tolling agreement with Arizona Public Service Company (APS), the state’s largest energy provider, as previously reported by ESS News. The BESS will charge during periods of high renewable generation and discharge during peak demand hours, supporting APS in meeting growing capacity needs.

“With electricity demand rapidly increasing in the Southwest, we anticipate battery storage will play a critical role in powering innovation and economic growth,” said Tim Evans, partner and head of North America at CIP. “Beehive will provide reliable energy and grid services to customers in Arizona and build on CIP’s track record of developing, constructing, and operating energy infrastructure investments across the country. We are pleased to have worked with the EDF Power Solutions team.”

The sale of EDF Power Solutions’ project wasn’t fully explained by the company, referencing only “optimizing” its portfolio and “maximizing value creation”:

“EDF Power Solutions actively seeks partnerships across all stages of a project’s lifecycle, with an eye toward both optimizing our portfolio and maximizing value creation,” said Ryan Pfaff, Executive Vice President, Grid and Distribution-Scale Power at EDF Power Solutions North America. “We value the opportunity to collaborate with CIP on the Beehive project and look forward to working with CIP to ensure the successful completion of this critical large-scale energy storage system to support Arizona’s grid during peak hours.”

Neither party published consideration for Beehive. In 2024, CIP bought Scatter Wash, a 255 MW / 1,020 MWh facility in Phoenix. Then, the developer Strata Clean Energy cited a $500 million investment value and later closed $559 million in construction/term debt, and also secured a 20-year tolling agreement. Again, the transaction price was also undisclosed. At Beehive, the finer premiums around the 20-year tolling agreement and financing structure are key to the final figures.

The Beehive BESS is located precipitously close to TSMC’s Arizona giant construction of new fabrication plants for advanced semiconductors, and is a very large user of energy.

CI V closed in March 2025, raising $14 billion and with total potential commitments of around $27 billion for energy infrastructure investments across North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific.