The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) has cleared a further 480MW of battery storage capacity for commercial operations during the month of August, according to the system operator’s most recent generator interconnection status (GIS) report published 3 September, 2024.
As the three new storage projects were connected to the grid during the first half of August, they were available to ERCOT for dispatch on August 20, 2024 when the Texas grid operator surpassed its instantaneous peak demand record, which it met without the need for conservation measures.
The 85,931MW figure didn’t come as a surprise to ERCOT, after it recently forecasted a peak demand of 86GW during the month of August as reported by Energy-Storage.news.
Tesla-owned BESS brought online
One of the three projects recently cleared for commercial operations is the Giga Texas Energy Storage project – a 130MW standalone BESS owned and operated by Tesla through its specialist clean energy division Tesla Energy.
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The project is located on the outskirts of Austin at the company’s Giga Texas site (Gigafactory 5), described by Tesla as its global headquarters and a manufacturing hub for its Model Y and Cybertruck vehicles.
Tesla first submitted an interconnection request with ERCOT (queue no. 23INR0239) for the Giga project in April 2021 through its Giga Texas Energy, LLC subsidiary which, in turn, is as wholly-owned subsidiary of Tesla Energy Ventures, LLC.
Tesla Energy Ventures, LLC holds a Retail Electric Provider (REP) certification allowing the business unit to purchase and resell wholesale energy in ERCOT’s market territory, as previously reported by Energy.Storage-news. The licence was granted by the Public Utility Commission of Texas in November 2021 and has since been successfully amended by Tesla following staffing changes.
According to the project’s interconnection agreement, the Giga Texas comprises 68 Tesla Megapacks connecting to the ERCOT grid via Lower Colorado River Authority’s (LCRA’s) Hornsby 345kV substation.
330MWh Aypa Power BESS
Also approved for commercial operations was Aypa Power’s BoCo BESS – a 150MW/330MWh standalone project located in Borden County, Texas.
Canadian Solar subsidiary e-Storage delivered the battery units for the project and turnkey transmission solutions provider Linxon assisted Aypa Power with activities relating to balance-of-plant, system studies, installation, testing and commissioning.
The project comprises 90 Sungrow individual battery units and connects to the ERCOT grid via the Long Draw 138kV substation owned by Wind Energy Transmission of Texas.
As reported by Energy.Storage-news in November 2023, Aypa Power partially financed the project through a US$550 million portfolio debt and tax equity financing package from First Citizens Bank & Trust Company, Nomura Securities International, Inc., National Bank of Canada, MUFG Bank, LTD. and U.S. Bancorp Impact Finance.
“First of its scale” BESS in Houston
The final and largest of the three storage facilities recently brought online is the 200MW/400MWh Calisto I Energy Center located in Central Houston, Texas, owned by Blackrock-owned independent power producer Jupiter Power.
In an August 19 press release, company CEO Andy Bowman hailed the Calisto I project as the “first project at this scale in the City of Houston”. Jupiter Power financed construction of the Callisto I project through a US$65.2 million financing provided by First Citizens Bank which it secured in December 2023.
400MW expansion at Callisto site
Jupiter Power has also secured an interconnection agreement with ERCOT for a second phase at the Callisto site, known as the Callisto II Energy Center (queue no. 22INR0558). The agreement, executed in December 2023, covers 400MW of battery storage capacity connecting to the ERCOT grid via CenterPoint Energy’s HO Clarke 138kV substation.
The request was first submitted in October 2021 and according to the ERCOT interconnection queue, Callisto II Energy Center is expected online in December 2025.
Jupiter Power has an extensive portfolio and claims to have 70+ battery projects totalling over 11GW spanning California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas and northeastern portions of the US.
