A 200MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) from developer Available Power at a net-zero technology campus in Texas is expected to be online in mid-2024.
The 100MW, two-hour system is being built on land leased from the GREENPORT International Airport and Technology Center near Austin, Texas.
The lithium-ion BESS unit is in advanced development and has entered the interconnection queue of ERCOT, the grid operator covering the majority of the Lone Star State. It will provide a combination of grid stability services to ERCOT as well as participating in the wholesale electricity market.
ERCOT does not have a centralised capacity auction like the UK national grid so BESS units make money entirely from selling energy to buyers in the market, as well as grid frequency response services regulation reserve service (RRS) and a sub-set within that group called fast frequency response (RRS-FFR).
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The GREENPORT campus includes a corporate campus for hosting data centres, research and development, energy demonstrations, corporate offices and government agencies that have high-security requirements.
It is also set to open a new private airport this year, the GREENPORT International Airport (GIA). Developer GREENPORT Energy, LLC, is aiming for the campus and airport to reach net-zero carbon emissions.
As part of that, it said it is developing a “biofuel-based” Combined Cycle Combustion Turbine (CCCT) thermal plant that will eventually generate 800MW of renewable energy as well as a microgrid for the entire campus.
It said Available Power’s BESS will enhance the resilience of the airport, although did not give specific details of use cases like peak shaving or backup power, and described the BESS as front-of-meter.
Available Power is a Texas-focused energy storage developer founded by president Benjamin Gregory and CEO Daniel Gregory in early 2020, after both finished stints at Shell.
The ERCOT, Texas energy storage market has been a hive of activity in recent months. A 100MW pipeline of ten projects, to be developed by FlexGen, was recently bought by investment fund SUSI Partners from SMT Energy, while gravity-based storage company Energy Vault is delivering a 200MW BESS for Jupiter Power.
And in a flurry of big portfolio deals, UBS Asset Management, Spearmint Energy and Cypress Creek Renewables acquired 600MW, 150MW and 400MW of projects, respectively. The seller to both UBS And Cypress Creek was Black Mountain Energy Storage.
