SUSI Partners and joint venture partner SMT Energy have agreed to grow their Texas battery energy storage portfolio, adding 10 projects with a combined capacity of 100MW to a fully operational 100MW portfolio.
SUSI, through the SUSI Energy Transition Fund (SETF), will invest in the portfolio expansion.
The projects are primarily located around the cities of Dallas and Houston, complementing the existing assets, which are concentrated in southern Texas.
All additional assets are expected to start construction in early 2024 with commercial operations expected to commence between late 2024 and the first half of 2025.
SUSI and SMT started their joint venture in the summer of 2022, with the partnership constructing, commissioning, and operating a 100MW South Texas BESS portfolio since.
The recently agreed expansion of the partnership comes on the back of recent successes, with the seed portfolio entering commercial operations, and the two parties securing tax equity for said portfolio.
The Texas ERCOT electricity market in recent times experienced record-high load levels amid extreme summer temperatures and continuous population and economic growth – all trends that are not expected to subside and will continue to drive elevated volatility.
With intermittent renewable energy generation playing an increasingly important role in meeting energy demand in the state, and the ageing thermal generation fleet increasingly prone to production disruptions, grid batteries have emerged as one of the most cost-effective dispatchable generation solutions in dealing with spiking power demand and electricity prices.