The AES Corporation announced that it has completed construction of the 1,000 MW Bellefield 1 project, under a 15-year contract with Amazon.
Bellefield is a two-phase project, with each phase including 500 MW of solar and 500 MW of four-hour battery-based energy storage, for a total of 2,000 MW of installed capacity. Once completed, the 2,000 MW Bellefield project is expected to be the largest solar-plus-storage facility in the United States.
"Completing the first 1,000 MW of Bellefield demonstrates how rapidly solar and storage can be deployed to meet the growing energy demand of data centers," said Andrés Gluski, AES President and Chief Executive Officer. "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."
AES has been consistently recognized by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) as a top provider of clean energy to corporations, including technology companies. AES has contractual arrangements with major global hyperscalers for 10.1 GW, including the 2 GW Bellefield project.
To accelerate Bellefield's implementation and ensure system reliability, AES utilized Maximo, an AI-enabled robotic system developed by AES to assist construction crews, improving the safety, speed, and accuracy of solar module installation.
The 2 GW Bellefield project, located in Kern County, California, will generate equivalent to the annual electricity usage of 467,000 homes, displacing over 1 million metric tons of CO₂ annually, and improving air quality. More than 700 union jobs were created during the construction of Bellefield 1 and approximately 1,000 union jobs are expected to be created at the peak of construction of Bellefield 2, further supporting local businesses.
The company expects to recognize the significant earnings associated with placing Bellefield 1 in service in the second half of this year, as planned. Construction on Bellefield 2 is on track to be completed in 2026.
