Enel Green Power North America has begun operating two new projects, including its first renewables-plus-storage hybrid scheme.
The 181MW Lily solar plus storage project, located east of Dallas, Texas, is the company’s first hybrid project in North America that integrates a renewable energy plant with utility-scale battery storage.
The project includes 55MW of battery storage, part of Enel’s installation of around 600MW of new storage capacity on the Texas power grid by 2022.
Enel also began operations of the 140MW Rockhaven wind farm in Oklahoma.
The new additions come as the company embarks on an accelerated growth plan involving the addition of 6.5GW of new renewable capacity and 1.4GW of energy storage over the next three years.
Enel Green Power head of US and Canada Paolo Romanacci said: “This milestone signals a new era for our company as we start delivering on our major commitment to grid-scale battery storage in the US.
“By pairing renewable energy with storage technology, we are supporting a cleaner and more flexible grid.
“We are ready to answer the call of policymakers and business leaders to accelerate the energy transition in North America.
“As such, we are committing more investment than ever before to achieve accelerated growth targets.”
Enel has over 2GW of new wind and solar capacity currently under construction in the US and Canada, along with over 550MW of battery storage capacity in Texas.
The company currently has a mature development pipeline of around 12GW and is a key part of Enel’s global goal to achieve around 155GW of installed renewable capacity by the end of the decade.