Energy storage developer Jupiter Power has opened and operated a 200MWh battery storage system in Texas, and the company expects to have more than 650MWh of energy storage systems in use by the summer.
The company said a few days ago that the 100MW/200MWh Flower Valley II battery storage project in Reeves County, Texas, has begun commercial operations. The project is JupiterPower's first grid-connected energy storage project and one of the largest commercially operating energy storage projects in Texas.
The project will power the Electric Reliability Commission of Texas (ERCOT) grid through energy capacity and ancillary services that consolidate the grid. It also participates in the Texas Grid’s Regulating Reserve Service (RRS), two services that make up the majority of energy storage system revenue in the Fast Frequency Response (FFR) range.
Andy Bowman, CEO of Jupiter Power, said: "We are delighted to announce the commencement of commercial operation of our largest battery storage system ever deployed. The utility-scale energy storage project we have developed provides fast-response, dispatchable energy that is essential for It is critical for the grid to better match renewable resources with customer demand."
By the end of 2021, Texas will have a cumulative installed renewable energy capacity of 45.1GW, far ahead of the United States and almost double California (22.9GW). However, the state's cumulative deployment of energy storage is only about half of California's 2.6GW grid-connected energy storage system (as of January 31, 2022).
The Flower Valley II battery energy storage project is adjacent to its 9.9MW/19.8MWh Flower Valley I battery energy storage project, which will be put into commercial operation in mid-2021, with a total investment of more than US$70 million in the two energy storage projects.
Jupiter Power has two other grid-connected storage projects in Texas, and another 400MWh battery storage project is currently being commissioned and is expected to be operational by summer. In Crane County, the 200MW/200MWh Crossett battery energy storage system is officially being deployed. Combined with the 15MWh Triple Butte I battery storage system already in operation in Pecos County, these storage projects will bring Jupiter Power's total operating storage capacity in the state to 654.6MWh.
The Electric Reliability Commission of Texas (ERCOT) has a simplified interconnection process for generation resources under 10MW, which may partly explain the scale of energy storage projects that Jupiter Power already operates. Response Standby (RRS) service and Fast Frequency Response (FFR) service requirements also drive one-hour storage deployments, meaning the average size of battery storage projects deployed in Texas compared to California, where 4-hour storage has become mainstream smaller.
Jupiter Power's strategy in Texas is to develop energy storage projects without a power purchase agreement to provide capacity for the grid or ancillary services. The company selects strategic locations where energy storage capacity is needed, such as grid bottlenecks or areas with fluctuating electricity prices that energy storage systems can mitigate.
The Regulated Reserve Service (RRS) service provides 10-minute backup power for major power outages to the power system and provides an operational reserve for frequency containment following a major power generation emergency. In Regulated Reserve Service (RRS) service, RRS-FFR (Fast Frequency Response) requires energy assets to be deployed automatically and provide a response within 15 cycles after the grid frequency reaches or falls below 59.85Hz.
A market source said the two services will remain the main source of revenue for energy storage systems for some time and show no signs of market saturation, although storage systems are also increasingly profiting from arbitrage.
He noted that Texas has underscored the importance of energy storage on the grid after a major power crisis last year from a winter storm.