AES acquires 2 GW Bellefield solar + storage project

The AES Corporation acquired the 2 GW Bellefield project, which is currently in late-stage development, and is the largest permitted solar + storage project in the United States. The project, located in Kern County, Calif., where AE1 already has significant operations, includes two phases, each with 500 MW of solar and up to 500 MW of four-hour duration battery energy storage.

Phase one of the Bellefield project has a 15-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) to deliver hourly, carbon-free energy to an existing AES corporate customer.

AES expects to contract up to an additional 1 GW of solar + storage in phase two of the Bellefield project by the end of 2023.

The two phases of the project were developed by the seller, Avantus, and are expected to come online in 2025 and 2026, respectively.

“This significant acquisition accelerates AES’ deployment of unique renewable energy solutions to our key corporate clients in the California market,” said Andrés Gluski, AES President and Chief Executive Officer. “With the addition of Bellefield phase one, our signed PPA backlog grows to more than 12 GW, which represents growth of more than 80% from our current installed renewable generation fleet.”

Over the last decade, AES has rapidly grown its portfolio of renewable energy projects, including 15 GW of installed capacity, the 12 GW backlog of projects, and a global pipeline of 61 GW. The vast majority of this backlog is expected to come online over the next two years.

AES has been recognized by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) as the top developer selling clean energy to corporations through PPAs in 2021 and 2022.

— Solar Builder magazine

[source: https://solarbuildermag.com/news/aes-acquires-2-gw-bellefield-solar-storage-project/]