The SCRIT electron scattering facility, aiming at electron scattering off short-lived unstable nuclei, has been constructed at the RIKEN RI Beam Factory. This facility consists of a racetrack microtron (RTM), an electron storage ring (SR2) equipped with the SCRIT system, and a low-energy RI separator (ERIS). SCRIT (self-confining radioactive isotope ion targeting) is a novel technique to form internal targets in an electron storage ring. Experiments for evaluating performance of the SCRIT system have been carried out using the stable Cs-133(1+) beam and the Xe-132(1+) beam supplied from ERIS. Target ions were successfully trapped in the SCRIT system with 90% efficiency at a 250 mA electron beam current, and luminosity exceeding 10(26)/(cm(2) s) was maintained for more than 1 s. Electrons elastically scattered from the target ions were successfully measured. Applicability of the SCRIT system to electron scattering for unstable nuclei has been established in experiments. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.