AES Completes Bellefield Phase One, Energising Record Solar-Storage Milestone Project

• AES finishes first 1 GW of Bellefield solar-plus-storage in Kern County, pairing 500 MW solar with 500 MW battery under Amazon deal; full 2 GW slated for 2026.

The AES Corporation has reached a watershed moment in California’s clean-energy push, completing Bellefield 1—the opening 1-gigawatt tranche of what is set to become the largest solar-plus-storage complex in the United States.

Located on former agricultural land near California City in Kern County, Bellefield 1 unites 500 MW of photovoltaic generation with an equally powerful 500 MW/2,000 MWh lithium-ion battery system. That four-hour storage window shifts surplus midday solar into the evening demand peak. AES estimates the first block alone can power about 230,000 homes and avert roughly 500,000 t of CO₂ emissions each year. Electricity is secured under a 15-year power-purchase agreement with Amazon, helping the hyperscaler meet its decarbonisation goals.

Construction began in Q3 2023 and wrapped up ahead of schedule thanks in part to an autonomous module-installation robot AES piloted on-site. The build created more than 450 union jobs, with a further 1,000 positions expected as the second gigawatt ramps up next quarter.

When both phases are delivered—on a timetable that keeps Bellefield’s full 2-GW scale on line by late 2026—the hybrid plant will supply enough clean power for 467,000 Californian households and displace over one million tonnes of CO₂ annually, equivalent to taking 240,000 gasoline cars off the road. AES chief executive Andrés Gluski called the milestone “proof that utility-scale solar and storage can be delivered at record pace for the data-centre era.”

Beyond its headline capacity, Bellefield signals a strategic shift for AES toward long-term, bespoke contracts with data-centre and cloud operators eager to hedge wholesale volatility while accelerating net-zero commitments. The company hinted that similar multi-hundred-megawatt solar-plus-storage blocks are in late-stage development across the US Southwest.

Phase 2 remains on track for completion next year; once commissioned, Bellefield will eclipse Nevada’s Gemini project to become the country’s largest hybrid solar facility and one of the world’s biggest battery sites.