Renewables developer D. E. Shaw Renewable Investments (DESRI) and Ford Motor Company’s energy storage subsidiary, Ford Energy, will partner to deploy energy storage in the US.
Announced 4 November, DESRI and Ford Energy are partnering to deploy US-assembled battery energy storage systems (BESS) and increase the availability of dispatchable capacity resources to the grid.
DESRI’s co-founders previously held roles in companies First Wind and Deepwater Wind before officially launching DESRI in 2010.
After acquiring and operating its first utility-scale solar project, the company shifted focus toward long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) with utilities and other corporations.
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DESRI made landmark deals for its involvement in BESS with projects such as Arroyo Solar and Storage, a 300MWac solar PV plant with 150MW/600MWh of co-located BESS in New Mexico’s McKinley County, and the 130MW solar, 260MWh BESS Carne Solar and Storage project, also in New Mexico.
Early this year, DESRI signed a preferred equity investment in IPP Linea Energy’s 235MW/470MWh Duffy BESS in Matagorda County, Texas.
Ford Energy was launched in May of this year. Its flagship product is the Ford Energy DC block, a standardised 20-foot ISO containerised BESS designed around 512Ah lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cells and available in 2-hour and 4-hour configurations.
The Ford Energy DC block is built at the company’s Kentucky gigafactory, with a 20GWh annual capacity and full US assembly, for foreign entity of concern (FEOC) and prohibited foreign entity (PFE) compliance.
As observed in greater detail this August by Energy-Storage.news Premium, this puts Ford in the emerging 500+Ah cell category, though rivals like CATL, EVE, REPT, Hithium and CALB are already using larger 587-628Ah cells with higher container ratings (around 6.25MWh) and published energy density figures Ford has yet to disclose.
Ford’s system has a 20-year calendar life and an operating range of -35°C to 55°C, broadly comparable to competitors, though its efficiency and energy density remain undisclosed. Designed for short-duration grid services, such as frequency regulation, arbitrage, and demand response, first deliveries are expected in late 2027.
