Crimson Storage enters service, adding 1,400 MWh of capacity to CAISO grid

Axium Infrastructure and Canadian Solar Inc.’s Recurrent Energy and CSI Energy Storage units said that the 350 MW / 1400 MWh Crimson Storage, a $550 million energy storage project in California, is in service.

A fund managed by Axium Infrastructure US Inc. owns 80% of the project and Recurrent Energy, the project developer, retains 20%. CSI Energy Storage was the turnkey system integrator of the project, providinging the engineering, procurement and construction services. It also will provide long-term operational services.

Sited on public lands in Riverside County, the project holds two long-term energy storage contracts with Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas and Electric. Both contracts are part of reliability procurements directed by the California Public Utilities Commission.

The project is in an area tagged as suitable for renewable energy development, and is part of the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan Land Use Plan Amendment. The plan targets some 10.8 million acres of public lands in the desert of seven California counties and aims to streamline renewable energy development while conserving ecosystems and providing recreational opportunities. 

Within the planning area, some 19 renewable energy projects are at different stages of review with the potential to add around 7 GW of energy production.

In 2021, the BLM approved the Crimson Solar Project, which authorized Sonoran West Solar Holdings, a unit of Recurrent Energy, LLC, to build a 350 MW solar photovoltaic facility and 350 MW battery storage system with support facilities to generate and deliver power through the Southern California Edison Colorado River Substation.