AES Finalizes Phase One of America’s Largest Solar‑Plus‑Storage

The 1,000 MW Bellefield 1 project, which was built by the AES Corporation under a 15-year contract with Amazon, is now complete. For a total of 2,000 MW of installed capacity, Bellefield is a two-phase project that consists of 500 MW of solar and 500 MW of four-hour battery-based energy storage. The 2,000 MW Bellefield project is anticipated to be the biggest solar-plus-storage system in the US when it is finished.

“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,” stated 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.”

Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) has often named AES as one of the leading suppliers of sustainable energy to businesses, especially IT firms. Major international hyperscalers, notably the 2 GW Bellefield project, have contracts with AES for 10.1 GW.

AES used Maximo, an AI-enabled robotic system created by AES to help construction teams, to expedite Bellefield’s deployment and guarantee system dependability. This enhanced the safety, speed, and precision of solar module installation.

In Kern County, California, the 2 GW Bellefield project will produce enough energy to power 467,000 households yearly, displace more than 1 million metric tons of CO₂, and enhance air quality. In order to assist local companies, more than 700 union jobs were generated during Bellefield 1’s development, and at the height of Bellefield 2’s construction, almost 1,000 union jobs are anticipated to be produced.

As expected, the company anticipates realizing the substantial profits related to putting Bellefield 1 into operation in the second part of this year. Bellefield 2’s construction is expected to be finished in 2026.