Spearmint Energy breaks ground on 300MWh ERCOT battery storage project

LinkedIn
Twitter
Reddit
Facebook
Email

Battery storage developer Spearmint Energy has started building a 150MW/300MWh unit in the ERCOT, Texas market, its first project.

The company announced the start of construction of the two-hour duration ‘Revolution’ energy storage project in West Texas last week (15 December). The new developer acquired the project, which will be next to a 279MW wind farm, in July.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Enjoy 12 months of exclusive analysis

  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Annual digital subscription to the PV Tech Power journal
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

Engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) specialist Mortensen is delivering the project through the construction of the battery storage facility, substation and transmission line for connection to the ERCOT (Electric Reliability Council of Texas) grid.

It will be one of the largest battery energy storage systems (BESS) in the US when it is commissioned in mid-2023, Spearmint claimed, and will help the Texas grid transition away from fossil fuels.

CEO Andrew Waranch, who recently wrote a guest blog for Energy-Storage.news about why the Texas grid needs battery storage added:

“Revolution will provide critical grid resiliency and reliability services to enable the continued deployment of low-cost renewable energy in ERCOT at a time when our nation is grappling with challenges brought by a changing climate, rising oil and natural gas prices, increasing demand for electricity, and the impacts of supply chain constraints, inflation, and tariffs on the construction of new generation facilities.”

The vast majority of Texas’ renewable energy comes from wind farms, which is in contrast to sunnier states like California which mostly get theirs from solar PV. Wind is a more intermittent resource than solar PV and so batteries have a key role to play in smoothing out the peaks and troughs in generation.

As of July 2022, ERCOT had 1,639MW of BESS projects connected and synchronised to its grid. According to the grid operator’s own data, it has around another 1,800MW of BESS projects expected to enter commercial operation before the end of the year, bringing the total to around 3,400MW online.

Miami-headquartered Spearmint also recently hired four executives to its team, including new senior VP of project technology Chris Wright, formerly of utility Nextera Energy Resources; new senior VP of project execution Jeff Jackson, formerly of Mortensen; new VP of project finance Nicolas Cottely, formerly of solar and storage developer Origis Energy; and a new data scientist Allen Yu from energy trading and risk management firm XO Energy.

18 March 2025
Sydney, Australia
As we move into 2025, Australia is seeing real movement in emerging as a global ‘green’ superpower, with energy storage at the heart of this. This Summit will explore in-depth the ‘exponential growth of a unique market’, providing a meeting place for investors and developers’ appetite to do business. The second edition will shine a greater spotlight on behind-the-meter developments, with the distribution network being responsible for a large capacity of total energy storage in Australia. Understanding connection issues, the urgency of transitioning to net zero, optimal financial structures, and the industry developments in 2025 and beyond.
26 March 2025
Austin, Texas
The Energy Storage Summit USA is the only place where you are guaranteed to meet all the most important investors, developers, IPPs, RTOs and ISOs, policymakers, utilities, energy buyers, service providers, consultancies and technology providers in one room, to ensure that your deals get done as efficiently as possible. Book your ticket today to join us in 2025!

Read Next

Premium
February 11, 2025
Ørsted has taken a final investment decision (FID) on a 250MW/500MWh BESS that will be co-located with one of the company’s operational solar facilities in Fort Bend County, Texas.
February 11, 2025
Virtual power plants (VPPs) are networks of small-scale, distributed energy resources, such as solar panels or batteries (and in some instances vehicles) which can together function as a single power plant, providing stability to the electric grid.
Premium
February 11, 2025
The energy storage market in Italy has unique characteristics that mean more risk-averse investment funds will be able to enter, but upcoming auctions could be very competitive, driving down clearing prices, a director at consultancy Timera Energy said.
February 11, 2025
Modo Energy has said that battery energy storage systems (BESS) in Australia’s National Electricity Market (NEM) earned an average of AU$148,000/MW (US$92,810/MW) in 2024, a 45% increase year-on-year.
February 10, 2025
The government of Cyprus has published guidelines for a scheme to support the deployment of approximately 150MW/350MWh of energy storage.  

Most Popular

Email Newsletter