Equinor ASA has approved its first two battery storage projects in the USA in line with its bid to become a leader in the energy transition.
The two projects have a combined total capacity of 110 megawatts (MW), providing a valuable source of energy security for the Texas grid once operational, the company said in a recent news release.
Equinor noted that construction has begun on the Sunset Ridge Energy Center in Frio County, Texas; while its Citrus Flatts project in Cameron County, Texas is being prepared for implementation. Once operational, Citrus Flatts and Sunset Ridge are planned to be commercialized by Equinor’s wholly owned energy trading house, Danske Commodities.
Equinor in July 2022 announced its acquisition of 100 percent interest in privately owned U.S. battery storage developer East Point Energy, headquartered in Charlottesville, Virginia. The acquisition provides a platform for broadening its energy offerings in the USA, the company said in an earlier statement. East Point has a project pipeline of approximately 3 gigawatts (GW) of battery storage projects across the country.
Sunset Ridge marks the first battery storage project for East Point Energy in Texas and will be connected to the distribution network of South Texas Electric Cooperative (STEC). The 10 MW / 20 megawatt-hours (MWh) battery storage project will strengthen reliability and enable STEC to better serve its customers during peak demand, according to the release. Equinor expects to start commercial operations for Sunset Ridge in the second half of the year.
Citrus Flatts will be a 100 MW / 200 MWh battery storage project and will be connected to the transmission network American Electric Power. The project is expected to reach commercial operations in early 2026, Equinor outlined.
Sunset Ridge and Citrus Flatts will operate on a fully merchant basis in Texas’ ERCOT power market and are expected to deliver real base project returns towards the higher end of Equinor’s guided range for renewables of four to eight percent, it stated.
“Energy storage is essential to balance the supply with the increasing demand for energy in Texas,” East Point Energy CEO Andrew Foukal said. “We’re excited that our projects will support a more renewable, resilient, and affordable grid for the Cameron and Frio communities, and the ERCOT market at large”.
“We aim to build a robust and diversified battery storage portfolio with an opportunity to scale, by leveraging the capabilities of East Point Energy and maximizing synergies with Danske Commodities,” Christian Lie Hansen, vice president of onshore renewables Americas and chair of the East Point Energy board, said.
“Our ownership in East Point Energy creates a solid basis for building a material and profitable battery storage position across attractive US power markets, delivering on our market-driven power producer strategy,” Hansen added.
Equinor’s U.S. renewable energy portfolio includes offshore wind projects such as Empire Wind, off the coast of New York, and Atlas Wind, off the coast of California. Equinor is also a partner in Bayou Bend CCS located in Southeast Texas and has been active in upstream oil and gas in the USA since 2004, it said. The company’s subsidiary Equinor Renewables targets to install 12 to 16 GW of renewables capacity globally by 2030.
To contact the author, email rocky.teodoro@rigzone.com
Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.