# Sunlight Storage

CAISO Batteries · https://askthegrid.com/assets/facilities/sunlight-storage

Sunlight Storage is a battery energy storage facility with 230 MW of EIA-reported operating capacity and 920 MWh of reported energy capacity in Riverside County, California, registered as EIA Plant ID 65857. Sunlight Storage, LLC is the registered plant entity or operator. NextEra Energy Partners, LP, through NextEra Energy Partners Acquisitions, LLC acquired a 67% interest in the plant from NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, through NEP US Sellco, LLC and ESI Energy, LLC in September 2022. Its grid role is battery storage for shifting Desert Sunlight solar generation to peak hours and supporting grid integration.
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## Key facts

- Technology: Batteries
- Power capacity: 230 MW
- Energy capacity: 920 MWh
- Operating status: operating

## Grid and market context

- ISO/RTO: CAISO
- Balancing authority: CISO (CAISO)

## Source-backed facts

- Owner logo domain: nexteraenergyresources.com — 230MW BESS comes online at Bureau of Land Management site in California - Energy-Storage.News · confidence: medium
- Identifiers: [{"value":"65857","system":"EIA plant code"},{"value":"SUNS1","system":"EIA generator ID"},{"value":"Desert Sunlight PV II Storage 2","system":"CAISO resource ID"},{"value":"CISO","system":"CAISO balancing authority"},{"value":"DESERT SUNLIGHT PV II — queue position 147","system":"CAISO queue"},{"value":"ER15-2243","system":"FERC docket"}] — MBR | Index · confidence: medium
- Identifiers: [{"value":"65857","system":"EIA plant code"},{"value":"SUNS1","system":"EIA generator ID"},{"value":"Desert Sunlight PV II Storage 2","system":"CAISO resource ID"},{"value":"CISO","system":"CAISO balancing authority"},{"value":"DESERT SUNLIGHT PV II — queue position 147","system":"CAISO queue"},{"value":"ER15-2243","system":"FERC docket"}] — Curtailed · confidence: medium
- Identifiers: [{"value":"65857","system":"EIA plant code"},{"value":"SUNS1","system":"EIA generator ID"},{"value":"Desert Sunlight PV II Storage 2","system":"CAISO resource ID"},{"value":"CISO","system":"CAISO balancing authority"},{"value":"DESERT SUNLIGHT PV II — queue position 147","system":"CAISO queue"},{"value":"ER15-2243","system":"FERC docket"}] — Public Queue Report · confidence: medium
- Description: Sunlight Storage is a 230 MW battery energy storage facility in Riverside County, California, with approximately 920 MWh of storage capacity. EIA/FERC records identify plant 65857, utility and owner Sunlight Storage, LLC, generator SUNS1, and operating year 2022. The project company is associated with NextEra Energy Resources, and the Bureau of Land Management announced the associated Desert Sunlight Battery Energy Storage System fully operational on August 16, 2022. — MBR | Index · confidence: medium
- Description: Sunlight Storage is a 230 MW battery energy storage facility in Riverside County, California, with approximately 920 MWh of storage capacity. EIA/FERC records identify plant 65857, utility and owner Sunlight Storage, LLC, generator SUNS1, and operating year 2022. The project company is associated with NextEra Energy Resources, and the Bureau of Land Management announced the associated Desert Sunlight Battery Energy Storage System fully operational on August 16, 2022. — BLM announces Desert Sunlight battery storage facility is... · confidence: medium
- Parties: [{"relationship":"Owner, operator, and project company","name":"Sunlight Storage, LLC","official_url":null},{"relationship":"Developer and parent company","name":"NextEra Energy Resources, LLC","official_url":"https://www.nexteraenergyresources.com/"},{"relationship":"EPC contractor","name":"Cupertino Electric, Inc.","official_url":"https://www.cei.com/"},{"relationship":"Energy-storage purchaser/offtaker","name":"Southern California Edison Company","official_url":"https://www.sce.com/"}] — 230MW BESS comes online at Bureau of Land Management site in California - Energy-Storage.News · confidence: medium
- Parties: [{"relationship":"Owner, operator, and project company","name":"Sunlight Storage, LLC","official_url":null},{"relationship":"Developer and parent company","name":"NextEra Energy Resources, LLC","official_url":"https://www.nexteraenergyresources.com/"},{"relationship":"EPC contractor","name":"Cupertino Electric, Inc.","official_url":"https://www.cei.com/"},{"relationship":"Energy-storage purchaser/offtaker","name":"Southern California Edison Company","official_url":"https://www.sce.com/"}] — Welcome to SCE · confidence: medium
- Canonical name: Sunlight Storage — MBR | Index · confidence: high
- Identifiers.0: {"value":"65857","system":"EIA plant code"} — MBR | Index · confidence: high
- Identifiers.1: {"value":"SUNS1","system":"EIA generator ID"} — MBR | Index · confidence: high
- Identifiers.2: {"value":"Desert Sunlight PV II Storage 2","system":"CAISO resource ID"} — Curtailed · confidence: medium
- Identifiers.3: {"value":"CISO","system":"CAISO balancing authority"} — Curtailed · confidence: high
- Identifiers.4: {"value":"DESERT SUNLIGHT PV II — queue position 147","system":"CAISO queue"} — Public Queue Report · confidence: medium
- Parties.1: {"relationship":"Developer and parent company","name":"NextEra Energy Resources, LLC","official_url":"https://www.nexteraenergyresources.com/"} — 230MW BESS comes online at Bureau of Land Management site in California - Energy-Storage.News · confidence: medium
- Parties.3: {"relationship":"Energy-storage purchaser/offtaker","name":"Southern California Edison Company","official_url":"https://www.sce.com/"} — Welcome to SCE · confidence: high
- Interconnection: Red Bluff Substation — Desert Sunlight Photovoltaic (PV) Solar Farm, California · confidence: medium
- Site acres: 94 — BLM announces Desert Sunlight battery storage facility is fully operational | Bureau of Land Management · confidence: high
- Commercial operation date: 2022-09-01 — BLM announces Desert Sunlight battery storage facility is fully operational | Bureau of Land Management · confidence: medium
- Power mw: 230 — BLM announces Desert Sunlight battery storage facility is fully operational | Bureau of Land Management · confidence: high
- Kind: bess — BLM announces Desert Sunlight battery storage facility is fully operational | Bureau of Land Management · confidence: high
- Significance: Sunlight Storage is a 230 MW/920 MWh battery facility whose stated grid role is to store renewable electricity from the Desert Sunlight Solar Farm and release it during peak-demand periods. It is located on 94 acres of BLM-managed land in Riverside County, California. — BLM announces Desert Sunlight battery storage facility is fully operational | Bureau of Land Management · confidence: medium
- Quality notes: ["The 230 MW Sunlight Storage facility is distinct from Sunlight Storage II, a separate 300 MW addition announced fully operational in April 2024; Sunlight Storage II is excluded from this plant's history.","The April 2022 transaction amount is purchase consideration for an approximately 67% Class A equity interest, not a disclosed construction-debt amount. The transaction documents reference tax-equity financing but do not identify a tax-equity amount or investor in the cited material.","BLM announced full operation on August 16, 2022, while an EIA/FERC asset listing carries a 2022 operating year and a 10/18/2022 record date; these are retained as different administrative/public milestones.","No retirement, repowering, or expansion of the exact 230 MW Sunlight Storage unit is identified. The older Desert Sunlight solar-farm PPAs should not be attributed to this battery unit, and no standalone battery offtake agreement is established in the cited records."] — BLM announces Sunlight Storage II Battery System is fully operational | Bureau of Land Management · confidence: medium
- Quality notes: ["The 230 MW Sunlight Storage facility is distinct from Sunlight Storage II, a separate 300 MW addition announced fully operational in April 2024; Sunlight Storage II is excluded from this plant's history.","The April 2022 transaction amount is purchase consideration for an approximately 67% Class A equity interest, not a disclosed construction-debt amount. The transaction documents reference tax-equity financing but do not identify a tax-equity amount or investor in the cited material.","BLM announced full operation on August 16, 2022, while an EIA/FERC asset listing carries a 2022 operating year and a 10/18/2022 record date; these are retained as different administrative/public milestones.","No retirement, repowering, or expansion of the exact 230 MW Sunlight Storage unit is identified. The older Desert Sunlight solar-farm PPAs should not be attributed to this battery unit, and no standalone battery offtake agreement is established in the cited records."] — EIA - MBR Portal · confidence: medium
- Quality notes: ["The 230 MW Sunlight Storage facility is distinct from Sunlight Storage II, a separate 300 MW addition announced fully operational in April 2024; Sunlight Storage II is excluded from this plant's history.","The April 2022 transaction amount is purchase consideration for an approximately 67% Class A equity interest, not a disclosed construction-debt amount. The transaction documents reference tax-equity financing but do not identify a tax-equity amount or investor in the cited material.","BLM announced full operation on August 16, 2022, while an EIA/FERC asset listing carries a 2022 operating year and a 10/18/2022 record date; these are retained as different administrative/public milestones.","No retirement, repowering, or expansion of the exact 230 MW Sunlight Storage unit is identified. The older Desert Sunlight solar-farm PPAs should not be attributed to this battery unit, and no standalone battery offtake agreement is established in the cited records."] — SCE 550 MW Solar Projects: Utility-Scale PV PPAs - EF News · confidence: medium
- Financing summary: On April 20, 2022, NextEra Energy Partners Acquisitions, LLC agreed to acquire approximately 67% of the Class A membership interests in the Sunlight Renewables holding structure from NEP US SellCo, LLC and ESI Energy, LLC, both subsidiaries of NextEra Energy Resources, for approximately $191 million, subject to closing adjustments and commercial-operation conditions. This was an equity-interest acquisition, not project-financing debt. The transaction documents reference a Sunlight Renewables tax-equity financing and identify construction-cost obligations before closing, but disclose no tax-equity amount, investor, or project-debt amount in the cited material. — nep-20220331 · confidence: medium
- Timeline.2: {"event":"Acquisition agreement","date":"2022-04-20","detail":"NextEra Energy Partners Acquisitions, LLC entered into a purchase and sale agreement with NEP US SellCo, LLC and ESI Energy, LLC for approximately 67% of the Class A membership interests in Sunlight Renewables Holdings, which held the storage project company. The stated purchase price was approximately $191 million, subject to closing adjustments."} — nep-20220331 · confidence: high
- Timeline.3: {"event":"Commercial operation announcement","date":"2022-08-16","detail":"BLM announced that the 230 MW Desert Sunlight Battery Energy Storage System was fully operational and supporting integration of renewable generation from the Desert Sunlight Solar Farm."} — BLM announces Desert Sunlight battery storage facility is fully operational | Bureau of Land Management · confidence: high
- Commercial parties.2: {"relationship":"Developer/corporate affiliate and seller group","name":"NextEra Energy Resources, LLC","detail":"NEP's SEC filing identifies NEP US SellCo, LLC and ESI Energy, LLC as subsidiaries of NextEra Energy Resources and sellers in the 2022 Sunlight transaction. The filing also states that NEER affiliates provide project operation, maintenance, administrative, and management services to NEP projects.","official_url":"https://www.nexteraenergyresources.com/"} — nep-20220331 · confidence: medium
- Quality notes.0: The 230 MW Sunlight Storage facility is distinct from Sunlight Storage II, a separate 300 MW addition announced fully operational in April 2024; Sunlight Storage II is excluded from this plant's history. — BLM announces Sunlight Storage II Battery System is fully operational | Bureau of Land Management · confidence: medium
- Quality notes.0: The 230 MW Sunlight Storage facility is distinct from Sunlight Storage II, a separate 300 MW addition announced fully operational in April 2024; Sunlight Storage II is excluded from this plant's history. — nep-20220331 · confidence: medium
- Quality notes.1: The April 2022 transaction amount is purchase consideration for an approximately 67% Class A equity interest, not a disclosed construction-debt amount. The transaction documents reference tax-equity financing but do not identify a tax-equity amount or investor in the cited material. — nep-20220331 · confidence: medium
- Quality notes.2: BLM announced full operation on August 16, 2022, while an EIA/FERC asset listing carries a 2022 operating year and a 10/18/2022 record date; these are retained as different administrative/public milestones. — BLM announces Desert Sunlight battery storage facility is fully operational | Bureau of Land Management · confidence: medium
- Quality notes.3: No retirement, repowering, or expansion of the exact 230 MW Sunlight Storage unit is identified. The older Desert Sunlight solar-farm PPAs should not be attributed to this battery unit, and no standalone battery offtake agreement is established in the cited records. — BLM announces Sunlight Storage II Battery System is fully operational | Bureau of Land Management · confidence: medium
- Quality notes.3: No retirement, repowering, or expansion of the exact 230 MW Sunlight Storage unit is identified. The older Desert Sunlight solar-farm PPAs should not be attributed to this battery unit, and no standalone battery offtake agreement is established in the cited records. — SCE 550 MW Solar Projects: Utility-Scale PV PPAs - EF News · confidence: medium
- Seller: NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, through NEP US Sellco, LLC and ESI Energy, LLC — Source · confidence: medium
- Ownership interest pct: 67 — Source · confidence: high

## Timeline

- 2022-04-20 — Acquisition agreement
  NextEra Energy Partners Acquisitions, LLC entered into a purchase and sale agreement with NEP US SellCo, LLC and ESI Energy, LLC for approximately 67% of the Class A membership interests in Sunlight Renewables Holdings, which held the storage project company. The stated purchase price was approximately $191 million, subject to closing adjustments.
  Source: nep-20220331 (https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1603145/000160314522000018/nep-20220331.htm)
- 2022-08-16 — Commercial operation announcement
  BLM announced that the 230 MW Desert Sunlight Battery Energy Storage System was fully operational and supporting integration of renewable generation from the Desert Sunlight Solar Farm.
  Source: BLM announces Desert Sunlight battery storage facility is fully operational | Bureau of Land Management (https://www.blm.gov/press-release/blm-announces-desert-sunlight-battery-storage-facility-fully-operational)
- 2022-09 — Acquisition closed
  Indirect subsidiary of NEP completed acquisition from NEER of interests representing 67% controlling ownership in 230 MW battery storage facility. No separate closing consideration allocated solely to Sunlight Storage disclosed.
  Source: nep-20230630 (https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1603145/000160314523000034/nep-20230630.htm)
- 2022-09 — Ownership transaction
  In September 2022, an indirect subsidiary of NextEra Energy Partners acquired interests from NextEra Energy Resources in Sunlight Renewables Holdings representing an indirect 67% controlling ownership interest in the approximately 230 MW Sunlight Storage battery facility in Riverside County.
  Source: nep-20221231 (https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1603145/000160314523000005/nep-20221231.htm)

## Sources

- [230MW BESS comes online at Bureau of Land Management site in California - Energy-Storage.News](https://www.energy-storage.news/230mw-bess-comes-online-at-bureau-of-land-management-site-in-california/) — energy-storage.news · tier other
- [EIA - MBR Portal](https://mbrweb.ferc.gov/SearchlkpEIA/Index?page=722) — mbrweb.ferc.gov · tier regulatory
- [Curtailed](https://www.caiso.com/documents/curtailed-non-operational-generator-am-report-jul-16-2024.xlsx) — caiso.com · tier other
- [Public Queue Report](https://www.caiso.com/documents/publicqueuereport.xlsx) — caiso.com · tier other
- [BLM announces Desert Sunlight battery storage facility is fully operational | Bureau of Land Management](https://www.blm.gov/press-release/blm-announces-desert-sunlight-battery-storage-facility-fully-operational) — blm.gov · tier regulatory
- [Source](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1603145/000160314522000018/nep-q12022xex22.htm) — sec.gov · tier regulatory
- [Welcome to SCE](https://www.sce.com/) — sce.com · tier other
- [Desert Sunlight Photovoltaic (PV) Solar Farm, California](https://www.energymonitor.ai/projects/desert-sunlight-photovoltaic-pv-solar-farm-california/) — energymonitor.ai · tier other
- [NextEra Energy Resources | Mount Vernon Battery Storage | FAQ](https://www.nexteraenergyresources.com/mount-vernon-battery-storage/faq.html) — nexteraenergyresources.com · tier other
- [Energy | Cupertino Electric](https://www.cei.com/core-markets/energy) — cei.com · tier other
- [NextEra Energy Resources | Key Energy Storage](https://www.nexteraenergyresources.com/key-energy-storage.html) — nexteraenergyresources.com · tier other
- [BLM announces Sunlight Storage II Battery System is fully operational | Bureau of Land Management](https://www.blm.gov/press-release/blm-announces-sunlight-storage-ii-battery-system-fully-operational) — blm.gov · tier regulatory
- [nep-20220331](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1603145/000160314522000018/nep-20220331.htm) — sec.gov · tier regulatory
- [SCE 550 MW Solar Projects: Utility-Scale PV PPAs - EF News](https://electricityforum.com/news/solarprojectscomingtocaliforniadesert) — electricityforum.com · tier other
- [nep-20221231](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1603145/000160314523000005/nep-20221231.htm) — sec.gov · tier regulatory
- [xplr-20251231](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1603145/000160314526000007/xplr-20251231.htm) — sec.gov · tier regulatory

## Data quality

- The 230 MW Sunlight Storage facility is distinct from Sunlight Storage II, a separate 300 MW addition announced fully operational in April 2024; Sunlight Storage II is excluded from this plant's history. The April 2022 transaction amount is purchase consideration for an approximately 67% Class A equity interest, not a disclosed construction-debt amount. The transaction documents reference tax-equity financing but do not identify a tax-equity amount or investor in the cited material. BLM announced full operation on August 16, 2022, while an EIA/FERC asset listing carries a 2022 operating year and a 10/18/2022 record date; these are retained as different administrative/public milestones. No retirement, repowering, or expansion of the exact 230 MW Sunlight Storage unit is identified. The older Desert Sunlight solar-farm PPAs should not be attributed to this battery unit, and no standalone battery offtake agreement is established in the cited records.

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Source: Ask the Grid — https://askthegrid.com/