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These coverage measures paid dividends when batteries helped Southern California’s grid survive gasoline shortages after the 2015 Aliso Canyon gasoline storage leak. Over the years, the know-how has helped photo voltaic growth proceed after the sunny hours grew to become saturated with renewable power; the batteries shift photo voltaic era into extra priceless nighttime hours. They additionally ship very important capability when warmth waves push the state’s grid to the brink of collapse.
Texas obtained into the sport way more not too long ago, however for various causes. When battery prices fell, non-public builders began seeing alternatives to earn cash within the aggressive ERCOT wholesale markets. Unlike California, Texas doesn’t award particular contracts to make sure adequate grid capability; as a substitute, the value spikes from moments of scarce provide are supposed to incentivize non-public builders to construct energy crops and make cash.
Developers have discovered that buying land, acquiring permits and connecting to the grid is less complicated in Texas than in California’s regulatory regime. The payoffs might be enormous, each for builders and residents. For builders, quickly responding batteries are nicely suited to getting cash off the sudden swings in ERCOT’s more and more renewables-inflected markets. But extra batteries assist the broader neighborhood, too, as they preserve the grid purposeful in dicey conditions, like throughout a string of warmth waves final summer time.
Battery building picked up in Texas round 2020, when companies like Plus Power, Broad Reach Power and Key Capture Energy moved ahead with 100-megawatt tasks, which had been extraordinary in that market on the time. Now Plus Power, for example, lists a number of Texas power storage tasks in building with capability within the tons of of megawatts. Key Capture lists 580 megawatts in operation or building in Texas. Broad Reach has greater than 300 megawatts working, with one other 800 MW within the design-and-build section.
And as these early movers on Texas grid batteries preserve doubling down, new entrants are dashing in to compete. The entrepreneurial inflow has made Texas in 2024 the liveliest grid storage market the U.S. has ever seen.
