IPPs BrightNight and Cordelio Power have reached financial close on the 300MWac solar PV, 300MW/1,200MWh battery energy storage system (BESS), Pioneer Clean Energy Centre in Yuma, Arizona, US.
In February, the companies announced a power purchase agreement (PPA) for Pioneer with utility Arizona Public Service (APS).
Pioneer’s financing was backed by a consortium of lenders, including Crédit Agricole, MUFG, Royal Bank of Canada, National Bank of Canada, CoBank, and ING.
BrightNight and Cordelio say the financing strengthens their position for continued growth in US markets.
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Construction at Pioneer is in full swing, and commercial operation is expected to start by April 2027.
In July, according to the Arizona Corporation Commission, for the third year in a row, electric utilities in the state set new records for peak energy demand.
On 9 July, APS recorded a peak demand of 8,527MW, while utility Salt River Project (SRP) recorded 8,324MW on the same day. This surpassed the records of 2024, which were 8,212MW and 8,205MW, respectively.
During the Arizona Corporation Commission’s 2025 Summer Preparedness Workshop, SRP and APS assured the Commission that they are capable of generating over 24,000MW of electricity combined to meet the daily summer demands of customers.
Both SRP and APS make regular offtake agreements with BESS developers.
APS’ 2023 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) highlights battery storage as “an essential element” of its ‘Action Plan’, and “one in which APS is investing heavily”.
The company has a multi-project partnership with subsidiary of Canadian Solar, Recurrent Energy.
APS also issued a request for proposals (RFP), in which it obtained PPAs with Fluence and Invenergy for the 1,900MWh Hashknife solar-plus-storage project.
APS has also signed PPAs with Copia Power for its 2,200MWh Maricopa Energy Centre, which the company claims will be Arizona’s single largest energy transition power generation project.
In 2024, SRP launched an RFP for non-lithium, long-duration energy storage (LDES) demonstration projects, aiming for wider deployment during the early 2030s.
This September, it also announced a partnership with Google to help accelerate the commercialisation of non-lithium LDES technology.
Google will cover part of the expenses for LDES pilot projects on SRP’s grid. Additionally, the technology company will analyse operational data from these pilots and offer feedback on the research and testing strategies.
SRP and APS have contributed to Arizona’s position as a leader in utility-scale BESS installations. Recently, the state has frequently ranked third, following Texas and California, in utility-scale BESS deployments.
The Q3 2025 US Energy Storage Monitor from Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables and the American Clean Power Association (ACP) noted that “Q2 2025 marked a new high for US utility-scale energy storage with 4.9GW/15GWh installed, a 63% year-on-year increase. Texas, California and Arizona accounted for 75% of installed capacity.”
In the announcement for BrightNight and Cordelio’s 1,200MWh BESS, Martin Hermann, Chief Executive Officer of BrightNight, marked the project as a commitment to supporting Arizona’s growing energy demand and remaining an active partner in the state.
