Meet Crimson Storage, the world’s largest single-phase battery, which is now live in the California desert.

Crimson Storage is also the second-largest energy storage project currently in operation of any configuration.

The 350 megawatt (MW)/1400 megawatt-hour (MWh) battery storage project, which sits on on 2,000 acres west of Blythe in Riverside County, broke ground in 2021.

Canadian Solar oversaw construction and provided the battery energy storage systems, and Axium Infrastructure and solar and storage developer Recurrent Energy will be Crimson Storage’s long-term owners.

Residential homes are usually served by a single-phase power supply, and this project, on average, is expected to store and dispatch enough electricity to power more than 47,000 homes each year. 

Crimson Storage holds two long-term contracts with local utilities: a 200 MW/800 MWh 14-year and 10-month contract with Southern California Edison, and a 150 MW/ 600MWh 15-year contract with Pacific Gas and Electric. 

Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) said:

The Crimson Energy Storage project epitomizes California leadership – clean energy, innovation, and economic development through good, union jobs. We’ve been laser focused on quickly bringing projects like this online to achieve our goal of a 100% clean energy grid. Congratulations to the people across the public and private sectors who are responsible for bringing this major project online to the benefit of all Californians.

Crimson Storage was the first standalone energy storage project to be approved by the Biden administration on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands in May 2021.

As Electrek reported, the BLM approved the $550 million, 350 MW Crimson Solar Project, and Crimson Storage is a part of that project; it will generate and deliver power through the Southern California Edison Colorado River Substation and will provide power for around 87,500 homes. The solar arm of this project will be constructed at a future date.

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