Enel North America, the clean energy company of Italian utility Enel, has started operations at five new battery energy storage systems (BESS) projects in Texas, US.
The new BESS projects add 369MW/555MWh of energy storage to the local power grid and increase Enel North America’s operational storage capacity by three-fold, to 520MW/780MWh.
All five new BESS are located at or close to the renewable generation plants in Texas.
Two BESS projects, with 59MW/89MWh capacity each, are located at Enel’s Blue Jay Solar project near Iola and the Roseland Solar project near Riesel.
Another two battery projects, with 57MW/86 MWh capacity each, are located at the High Lonesome Wind and Roadrunner Solar projects near the city of McCamey in Upton County.
A 137MW/206MWh battery storage project is located at the Azure Sky Wind project, in Throckmorton County.
Enel Green Power North America head Paolo Romanacci said: “With extreme heat propelling Texas’ energy demand to record-breaking levels, the addition of these five new battery storage systems couldn’t have come at a better time.
“Adding more resource diversity and energy flexibility through solutions like battery storage, demand response, and renewable generation is key to reinforcing the power grid and ensuring energy availability for Texans amid high demand periods.”
Enel said that the new BESS projects will enhance the grid stability and reliability in Texas, where elevated temperatures contributed to the highest energy demand this summer.
Earlier this month, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) declared an Energy Emergency Level 2 alert, due to a fall in energy reserves in the state.
It has delivered nearly 524MWh of electricity from its seven operational battery storage systems to the grid, to prevent rolling outages, said the company.
Enel said that all its batteries participate in ERCOT’s Ancillary Services, dispatching electricity during grid emergencies to help prevent blackouts and maintain the grid’s frequency.
Also, it maintains high availability of its seven operating BESS assets that can store up to 325MW of electricity all the time that can be discharged to the grid within seconds.
