Hydrostor Secures Offtake Agreement for California's Willow Rock Storage Center
AI-generated image · Bay Street Wire
A new 60 MW deal with the Clean Energy Alliance signals a shift for long-duration energy storage from theoretical pilots to scalable infrastructure.
As first reported by the Financial Post, the Clean Energy Alliance (CEA), a community choice aggregator serving over 255,000 San Diego County customers, has signed a 60 megawatt (MW) offtake agreement with the Willow Rock Energy Storage Center.
Located in California's Antelope Valley in Kern County, the facility is designed to capture excess solar energy during peak production periods and discharge it during times of highest regional demand. Greg Wade, CEO of CEA, stated that the project is intended to displace fossil fuel generation, strengthen grid stability, and help the organization meet state reliability mandates.
On-site work for the center officially commenced in July 2026. The project's development followed a series of regulatory approvals, including a conditional letter of support from the Kern County Board of Supervisors in April 2025, as well as a franchise agreement from the Kern County Board of Supervisors and a California Energy Commission permit, both granted in December 2025.
Willow Rock represents the first utility-scale project for Hydrostor in the United States. The developer, which utilizes patented technology involving water and compressed air for long-duration energy storage (LDES), previously established an operational project in Ontario, Canada. Jordan Cole, Chief Commercial Officer at Hydrostor, described the agreement as a key milestone for the project as site activity begins.
Founded in 2010, Hydrostor maintains a global project pipeline of 7 GW across the UK, Canada, Australia, and the U.S. The company is backed by CPP Investments, Goldman Sachs Alternatives, and is headquartered with offices in Denver, Melbourne, and Toronto.