ENGIE: 1 Gigawatt of Battery Storage Capability Added In USA This 12 months

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I simply wrote about how battery power storage is massively serving to to increase the usefulness of photo voltaic power into the night in California. It’s shortly remodeling the California electrical energy grid. Then I noticed this information from ENGIE, because of considered one of our content material curators. ENGIE has now reached greater than 1.8 gigawatts (GW) of put in battery power storage system (BESS) capability in the US, and 1 GW of that was simply added since January 2024! (Facet word: ENGIE makes use of the time period GW, which refers to energy storage capability, all through the information launch … besides in a single place, the place the corporate says “The ENGIE portfolio of BESS gives dispatchable power, which in complete is now able to offering round 1.8 GWh throughout the mix of ERCOT and CAISO – able to dispatch at a second’s discover.” So, it’s not clear what the case is right here — the corporate may have each 1.8 GW and 1.8 GWh of BESS capability put in, or it could possibly be referring to a kind of with the incorrect metric in some locations. I’m going to imagine the previous.)

California isn’t mentioned or highlighted a lot right here, however ENGIE should be enjoying a job and does point out CAISO (the California Impartial System Operator) briefly. The opposite large state working quickly to combine renewables into the grid is highlighted, although. That may be Texas. “With 24 initiatives now working throughout the U.S., of which 6 have been commissioned this 12 months, ENGIE is among the many largest operators of BESS within the nation, and one of many largest impartial operators of batteries supporting the ERCOT system in Texas,” the corporate writes.

“This new milestone strengthens ENGIE’s place as a frontrunner of the power transition in the US, the place the Group already has important footprints via its renewable property and its power administration platform,” ENGIE notes.
“The expansion in ENGIE’s BESS fleet was accelerated by the pivotal acquisition of business chief Broad Attain Energy (BRP) in August 2023. The profitable integration of BRP has not solely added to ENGIE’s current portfolio of growth initiatives, however critically included business main options, experience and expertise. ENGIE now brings elevated flexibility to the grid, permitting a greater integration of renewable energies and thus contributes to hurry up the power transition.”

That is going to be the story increasingly in Texas, as in California, and naturally in different markets across the nation and the world as they add extra renewable power to the grid. The BESS market goes to completely explode within the coming decade or two. ENGIE is actually effectively outfitted to revenue from that.

“We’re extraordinarily happy with the supply of so many battery initiatives over the previous 12 months, enabling ENGIE to play a number one function in including storage and different ancillary companies to the grid in a cloth manner” mentioned David Carroll, Chief Renewables Officer and Senior VP, ENGIE North America. “Storage and different companies are important additions to assist grid reliability. I’m honored that on quite a few events this summer season, ENGIE has been one of many largest contributors of storage dispatch into the ERCOT system for instance – serving to to steadiness the grid at a few of the most important moments.”

The corporate has been putting in each standalone initiatives and initiatives co-located with photo voltaic PV energy vegetation. The initiatives additionally cowl a variety of sizes — from 10 MW to 200 MW in energy capability (once more, the corporate doesn’t point out power storage capability right here, solely energy capability). The most important solar energy undertaking ENGIE’s storage methods are related to is the 320 MW “5 Wells” solar energy plant in Bell County, TX.

ENGIE has additionally been creating photo voltaic and wind power energy vegetation for years. The corporate has 8 GW of photo voltaic and wind energy initiatives in operation or in building throughout North America.

Featured picture courtesy of ENGIE.