US energy storage developer Eolian has begun commercial operations at 200MW of battery capacity in Texas.
The facilities, financed with the Investment Tax Credit, will provide critically needed dispatchable resource to meet urgent and growing demand for flexibility in the ERCOT power market in Texas.
The storage system was provided by Wärtsilä and consists of two interconnected batteries owned by Eolian, a portfolio company of Global Infrastructure Partners.
The Madero and Ignacio energy storage plants will be operated using Eolian software, enabling full participation in ERCOT.
Construction of the projects began in January 2021.
“Wärtsilä was determined to deliver the Madero and Ignacio energy storage facilities on time, despite challenging industry forces, to ensure additional dispatchable resources to improve reliability for the ERCOT market,” said Risto Paldanius, Vice President Americas, Wärtsilä Energy.
“Texas needs more flexible capacity solutions like energy storage for grid support and energy resource optimisation. This will help the state as it faces the natural replacement cycle of older inflexible generators and adapts to more frequent extreme weather events.”
Eolian owns and operates a growing portfolio of energy storage projects and invests in the most experienced renewable energy development teams in the US.