Tucked between two large structures within the hills of the Nevada barren region, 805 retired EV batteries lie in neat formation, every one wrapped in nondescript white tarps — and hiding in simple sight.
A passerby would possibly now not understand this unassuming array is the most important microgrid in North The usa, that it’s powering a 2,000 GPU modular knowledge heart for AI infrastructure corporate Crusoe, or that it represents the following giant act of JB Straubel, the co-founder and CEO of Redwood Fabrics.
Redwood Fabrics introduced Thursday right through an match at its Sparks, Nevada facility that it used to be launching an power garage trade that may leverage the hundreds of EV batteries it has accrued as a part of its battery recycling trade to offer energy to firms. And so they’re beginning with AI knowledge facilities.
The brand new trade, referred to as Redwood Power, is kicking off with spouse Crusoe, a startup Straubel invested in 2021. The outdated EVs, which don’t seem to be but able for recycling, retailer power generated from an adjoining sun array. The device, which generates 12 MW of energy and has 63 MWh of capability, sends energy to a modular knowledge heart constructed through Crusoe, an organization very best identified for its large-scale knowledge heart campus in Abilene, Texas — the preliminary web page of the Stargate venture.
The dimensions of Redwood’s battery assortment operation is staggering — and a chance. Redwood mentioned it recovers greater than 70% of all used or discarded battery packs in North The usa. These days, it processes greater than 20 GWh of batteries yearly — the an identical of 250,000 EVs.
It has it appears been stockpiling batteries that aren’t able for recycling, with greater than 1 gigawatt-hour value in its stock already. Within the coming months, it expects to obtain any other 4 gigawatt-hours.
By way of 2028, the corporate mentioned it plans to deploy 20 gigawatt-hours of grid-scale garage, striking it heading in the right direction to turn into the most important repurposer of used EV battery packs.
Straubel’s self assurance within the undertaking used to be obvious in each element of the release match. For example the dedication of Redwood — and through extension, Straubel — the entirety on the match from the tune and projection at the giant display to a laser gentle display that integrated massive Pac-Guy ghosts navigating the rows of EV batteries have been powered through the microgrid.
“We needed to head all in,” Straubel mentioned, breaking into a large, toothy smile. Splashy results for the development apart, the microgrid setup with Crusoe isn’t an illustration venture. Straubel mentioned it is a revenue-generating operation, which used to be built in 4 months, and one this is successful. He added that much more of those might be deployed with different consumers this yr.
“I feel this has the possible to develop quicker than the core recycling trade,” he mentioned.
Redwood Fabrics has been on a spread tear in recent times. The corporate, which has raised $2 billion in private funds, used to be based in 2017 through Straubel, the previous Tesla CTO and present board member, to create a round provide chain.
The corporate began through recycling scrap from battery cellular manufacturing in addition to client electronics like mobile phone batteries and pc computer systems. After processing those discarded items and extracting fabrics like cobalt, nickel and lithium which might be in most cases mined, Redwood provides the ones again to Panasonic and different consumers. Through the years, the corporate has expanded past recycling and into cathode manufacturing. Redwood generated $200 million in revenue in 2024, a lot of which comes from the sale of battery fabrics like cathodes.
The corporate’s footprint has grown too, and well past its Carson Town, Nevada headquarters. It has locked up offers with Toyota, Panasonic, and GM, began building on a South Carolina factory, and made an acquisition in Europe.
Redwood Power is the next move — and person who isn’t tied to putting in its methods to be off-grid. The retired EV batteries can also be powered through wind and sun, or they are able to be tied to the grid. With regards to the Crusoe venture, the device is powered through sun.
“There’s no inexperienced intent required right here,” CTO Colin Campbell mentioned right through a excursion of the microgrid. “It’s a excellent financial selection that still occurs to be carbon-free.”
The trade fashion addresses a longstanding problem within the power garage sector. For over a decade, firms had been promising to construct grid-scale garage from used EV batteries, however they’ve simplest materialized in small quantities. Redwood, which were given its get started as a battery fabrics and recycling corporate, is developing a brand new line that guarantees to ship gigawatts of a lot wanted power garage in only some years.
“This in reality demonstrates how economical the waste hierarchy in fact is,” Jessica Dunn, a battery professional on the Union of Involved Scientists, informed TechCrunch. That a huge recycler like Redwood known the benefit doable in repurposed EV batteries presentations “the place this end-of-life marketplace will cross,” she added.
Repurposing batteries is a transparent trade alternative for Redwood, but it surely may additionally be a trade crucial. Redwood used to be based to construct a provide chain that might care for the expected wave of used EV batteries that may hit the marketplace. However that wave hasn’t materialized rather as temporarily as some predicted.
“If Redwood didn’t input the repurposing marketplace, then they wouldn’t get a proportion from the repurposed battery. They’d have to attend the 5, 10, 15 years till they retired,” she mentioned. Within the intervening time, different firms would have the ability to promote the batteries for grid-scale garage, chopping Redwood out of years of profit.
Straubel stated this, noting in an interview that during some ways Redwood Fabrics began somewhat early.
“We began in reality early, and in some way we began Redwood nearly too early,” he mentioned, noting the corporate to begin with used to be gathering client batteries and manufacturing scrap forward of the approaching wave of EVs.
The present state of the recycling marketplace underscores the problem. “At this time, the recycling marketplace is most commonly production scrap, client electronics, and EV batteries that experience failed below guaranty,” Dunn mentioned. That has been sufficient for Redwood to procedure over 20 gigawatt-hours yearly. However it pales compared to the 350 gigawatt-hours in EVs lately and the 150 gigawatt-hours anticipated to hit the street annually.
Redwood these days has a recycling facility at its 175-acre campus in Sparks, Nevada, and it’s creating a 600-acre facility in Charleston, South Carolina. The latter will remanufacture cathode and anode copper foil, either one of which comprise essential minerals that the U.S. would favor stayed inside of its borders.
The corporate up to now mentioned that it is going to have the ability to making 100 gigawatt-hours yearly of cathode energetic subject matter and anode foil through the top of this yr. By way of the top of the last decade, it expects manufacturing to hit 500 gigawatt-hours.
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