Rivian, Redwood Deploy 10 MWh Second‑Life Storage
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- Rivian announced a partnership with Redwood Materials to install a second‑life battery energy storage system at its Normal, Illinois plant.
- Redwood Materials will integrate over 100 used Rivian battery packs into a 10 MWh system that can supply power back to the factory during peak demand.
- Redwood Pack Manager software will manage the mixed‑chemistry packs as a single dispatchable asset, a capability highlighted as a key differentiator.
- Rivian is ramping production of the R2 model and expects higher plant load; the battery buffer will reduce peak‑demand charges and provide resilience against grid stress.
- JB Straubel noted that domestic second‑life EV batteries are a strategic energy resource, and Redwood raised $350 million in October to expand its energy‑storage business.
- Redwood already operates a 12 MW/63 MWh microgrid at its Sparks, Nevada campus for a Crusoe AI data center, marking the Rivian plant as its first auto‑factory deployment.
- General Motors has an MOU with Redwood to repurpose its EV batteries, indicating broader automaker interest in second‑life storage.
Why it matters: Rivian reduces its electricity bill and gains grid resilience, while Redwood secures a high‑profile reference customer and a new source of second‑life packs, accelerating its push into stationary storage and giving automakers a viable outlet for aging batteries and helps meet the U.S.’s projected 600 GWh storage need by 2030.
