Bellefield 3 Solar and Battery Storage — Plant Summary
- EIA Plant ID
- 67894
- Capacity
- 300 MW
- Primary Fuel
- Battery Storage
- Technology
- Batteries, Solar Photovoltaic
- Status
- Planned
- Location
- Kern, CA
- Operating Since
- —
- Generators
- 2
- Operator
- 51LV 8me, LLC
- Parent Company
- AES
- Balancing Authority
- California Independent System Operator
- ISO/RTO
- CAISO
- NERC Region
- WECC
Bellefield 3 Solar and Battery Storage
PlannedBESSSolarHybridGEM: construction
Ranked #14 of 191 BESS plants in CA#96 of 837 nationally
300 MW Batteries (150 MW) + Solar Photovoltaic (150 MW) planned in Kern, CA — California Independent System Operator
EIAGEM
300 MW
Nameplate Capacity
2
Generators
units
Hybrid (2)
Technology
Batteries + Solar Photovoltaic
Planned: —
Planned Operation
Location
Coordinates
35.0292, -117.9926
County
Kern, CA
Nearby Plants
- Bellefield 2 Solar & Energy Storage FarmBESS1000 MW · 7.0 km
- Bellefield Solar and Energy Storage FarmBESS1000 MW · 9.4 km
- Aratina Solar Center 2BESS263 MW · 9.4 km
Ownership & Operator
Owner data does not fully agree across sources.
EIA typically reports the operating utility, while GEM resolves to the financial owner or parent corporation. Both can be correct.
| Field | EIA | GEM | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | 51LV 8me, LLC | Avantus | — |
| Owner(s) | 51LV 8me, LLC | AES | — |
| Status | Planned | construction | — |
Ownership Chain
About
Bellefield 3 Solar and Battery Storage is a 300 MW hybrid power plant located in Kern County, California. The plant is owned by AES and operated by 51LV 8me, LLC. It utilizes both solar photovoltaic technology and battery storage, with electricity reported as its primary fuel type. The facility consists of two generators and uses a fixed tilt solar tracking system.
The plant operates within the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) balancing authority and the Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC) NERC region. Bellefield 3 ranks as the 33rd largest power plant in California out of 112, and 142nd nationally out of 514. The plant has been the subject of 7 news articles, with 6 focused on industry trends and 1 on deals.
Generated from EIA, GEM, and public data sources
Engineering & Generators
Grid Context
NERC Region
WECC
Balancing Authority
California Independent System Operator
Grid Voltage
220 kV
Regulatory Status
NR
Entity Type
Independent Power Producer
Sector
IPP Non-CHP
Generation
No generation data available for this plant.
Financial Data
No financial data available for this plant.
Pricing & Market Data
MEDIUM confidenceMarket Position
ISO/RTO Market
CAISO
LMP Node
TOT162W1_6_GN001
Pricing Hub
TH_SP15_GEN-APND
Location Type
Pricing Node
Node Source
Curated node match
News & Articles (9)Beta
Industry·corporate
Bellefield Solar + Storage, California, US
The Bellefield Solar + Storage project is being developed by AES Corporation and combines 1GW of solar photovoltaic (PV) generation with 1GW...
AES Corporation (developer)
NS Energy·9 months ago
Industry·corporate
Factor This finance and development roundup: AES, CleanChoice, DESRI, Earthrise, Origis, rPlus, Soltage
Do you ever feel like maybe you weren't hardwired to handle all of the stimuli that the modern world throws at you?
AES (other)CleanChoice (other)
Power Engineering·9 months ago
Industry·corporate
First stage of Amazon's 4 GWh Californian solar-plus-storage site is built - Energy Storage
AES Corp is working on the 1 GW solar plus 1 GW/4 GWh battery site under a 15-year deal for the online retailer and said it expects to...
AES Corp (developer)Amazon (buyer)
ESS News·9 months ago
Industry·corporate
The US’s largest solar + storage project just hit a big milestone
AES brings 1 GW of solar + storage online in California, and full buildout will be the largest of its kind in the US by 2026.
AES (developer)
Electrek·9 months ago
Last updated 2026-03-14
View all 9 articles