X-ELIOdeveloper of renewable energy projects, is building the first utility-scale battery energy storage system (BESS) in the United States: a 60 MW project to be co-located with the 72 MW Liberty 1 Solar project in Houston.
Liberty 1 Solar is expected to be completed in early 2024 and produce 137 GWh of energy per year. The energy produced by this plant is sold to BASF through a power purchase agreement.
Surplus energy generated by Liberty 1 during periods of low demand is stored in batteries so that it can be fed into the grid during periods of higher demand. As an additional service, the system also supports network voltage and frequency.
In addition, the battery system is designed to allow for future expansion, increasing the capacity to a two-hour system (120 MWh), ensuring the highest value proposition in ever-changing market conditions.
The project is progressing as a collaboration between two long-term players in the energy storage industry, Safti and Power Electronics.
“The launch of this new battery project is an important milestone for X-ELIO and another step in our strategy to expand our business model into synergistic proximity to our core solar business,” says Mirko Molinari, X-ELIO’s Commercial Director. “This is the first big step of many that X-ELIO aims to take in this direction, and we are delighted to be working with expert technical partners like Saft who share our ambition to become a major player in utility-scale energy storage.”
