Recycled electric vehicle batteries are being employed to power a data center by Crusoe and Redwood Materials.

Redwood Energy and Crusoe Lead the Way in Solar-Powered, Off-Grid Data Centers

Redwood Energy, a new business line by Redwood Materials, has made a significant shift in the energy storage industry with its innovative solution for data center energy storage. The company's first public announcement of its move into energy storage came with the completion of a project in Reno, Nevada, in partnership with Crusoe.

This project marks a departure from Redwood's current business model, as the company now repurposes EV battery packs for data center energy storage. The first Redwood Energy microgrid, with a capacity of 63 megawatt-hours, is a testament to the company's commitment to sustainable energy solutions.

The data center in Nevada, powered by solar energy and second life batteries, is now the largest solar-powered, off-grid data center in the world. This groundbreaking project is a step towards a more sustainable future for the data center industry.

Crusoe's modular data centers, branded "Crusoe Spark", are at the heart of this innovation. Each Crusoe Spark unit includes power, cooling, and GPU racks, and the Nevada data center features two such units with NVIDIA A100s and B200s.

Crusoe is not new to the use of second life electric vehicle batteries. Their data center in Reno, Nevada, uses these batteries as backup power. The company is also building a massive data center for OpenAI in Abilene, Texas, powered by a gas plant.

Redwood's solution offers developers a way to avoid import duties, making it an attractive option for businesses looking to reduce costs while maintaining sustainability. The company has over a GWh in its deployment pipeline, and expects another 5 GWh to be added in the coming year.

Redwood Materials receives approximately 20 gigawatt-hours of battery material annually, a testament to the company's scale and reach. In late 2024, Redwood backed away from a $2 billion loan from the Department of Energy, opting to fund the project with private financing.

The company has raised $2 billion and generated around $200 million in revenue, citing growing financial strength. Redwood Energy's system cost is "substantially below" the end-to-end cost of new lithium-ion storage systems, making it a competitive and cost-effective solution for businesses.

With Redwood Energy's innovative solution, data centers can now operate off the grid, reducing carbon emissions and contributing to a more sustainable future. The company's focus on new build data centers, due to the physical space the deployments require, positions it as a key player in the energy storage industry. As the world continues to transition towards renewable energy sources, Redwood Energy's solutions are set to play a crucial role.

Recycled electric vehicle batteries are being employed to power a data center by Crusoe and Redwood Materials.