Crusoe is purchasing large batteries for its data centers

Data center developer Crusoe is increasing its energy storage capacity by purchasing batteries from Form Energy and Redwood Energy.

The company said it will purchase 12 gigawatt hours of Form Energy’s 100-hour batteries. This is the second big sale by Form, which said last month it would build a 30 gigawatt-hour battery for Google in Minnesota. The value of this deal is about one billion dollars, according to The Information website.

The model, the selling value of which was not disclosed, will begin delivering Cruzo batteries in 2027.

Crusoe’s smaller purchase should generate hundreds of millions of dollars in new revenue as the battery company embarks on a $500 million funding round. The model has raised $1.4 billion so far, according to PitchBook. Previously, Form signed smaller contracts with utilities interested in testing the technology.

This model’s iron air batteries are discharged when oxygen flows from the air over the iron particles inside the battery. The oxidation process produces rust and electroplating. To charge a battery, electricity essentially removes rust from the iron, releasing oxygen.

Form began expanding its first plant in West Virginia last year in anticipation of the big contracts that are now starting to materialize.

Crusoe also announced the expansion of its partnership with Redwood Materials, a battery recycling and reuse company founded by former Tesla CTO JB Straubel. The data center company has been running a 12-megawatt, 63-megawatt-hour battery on a microgrid since June, which was the largest installation of a second-life battery at the time. Redwood will provide an additional 8 megawatts of power using reused electric vehicle batteries.