Ford's newly-launched battery-storage business, Ford Energy, has signed a five-year framework agreement with EDF power solutions North America for up to 20 GWh of grid-scale battery energy storage systems, giving the Michigan automaker one of the largest utility offtake commitments of any first-year BESS supplier.
Deal structure
Under the agreement, EDF power solutions — the North American arm of France's EDF Group — will be able to procure up to 4 GWh per year of Ford Energy's DC Block system for five years, for a cumulative total of 20 GWh. First deliveries are expected in 2028, giving both companies runway to ramp production, permitting and interconnection.
What the DC Block actually is
The DC Block is a 20-foot containerized BESS rated at 5.45 MWh per unit, using 512 Ah lithium iron phosphate (LFP) prismatic cells and offered in 2-hour and 4-hour discharge configurations. It operates between 1,040 V and 1,500 V DC and uses integrated liquid cooling — a specification set targeted at grid-scale frequency regulation, arbitrage, peak-load shifting and back-up power.
From Model E to megawatt-hours
Ford Energy repurposes some of the automaker's battery investment away from EVs and into stationary storage. Ford said it plans to allocate roughly $2 billion at its former electric-vehicle battery manufacturing site in Glendale, Kentucky, setting up dedicated lines for prismatic LFP cells and DC BESS enclosures for the U.S. grid. The Kentucky plant becomes one of the anchor "domestic content" BESS factories that EDF power solutions is prioritising in a supply chain still dominated by Chinese cell makers.
Context
The deal follows a wave of major BESS commitments in North America and Europe, including Alfen and CATL's 5 GWh sodium-ion pact, Nextpower's Prevalon acquisition, and Base Power's $1B Series D at a $13B valuation — a pattern reflecting the shift of AI data-center and grid-resilience power investment into long-duration storage.
Reporting based on coverage from EDF power solutions, Ford, Energy-Storage.News, Solar Builder and Las Vegas Sun.