Acciona Energia swoops on Texas battery portfolio

• Developer will acquire a 190MW BESS due online in Q1 2023 plus 6 other BESS projects from QCells

Acciona Energía has actually signed an agreement with Qcells to acquire the 190MW Cunningham battery energy storage project, the biggest in the State of Texas, due online in the initial quarter of 2023.

The agreement also includes a portfolio of 6 projects in an advanced stage of development in Texas going beyond 1GW, with an incorporated capacity of more than 2 gigawatt hrs GWh per cycle.

The Cunningham battery will have a capacity of 380 megawatt hrs per cycle and will certainly be among the largest batteries on the Texas grid when it comes online.

The facility, situated 34 kilometres from Dallas, is composed of 159 blocks of 2.4 MWh manufactured by Sungrow and liquid cooling cells manufactured by CATL.

The storage batteries in the portfolio acquired from Qcells are not connected to any specific generation plant as well as will provide power as well as secondary solutions to the Texas Electric Reliability Council (ERCOT).

ERCOT is the independent grid operator that handles the transmission, circulation and marketing of 90% of Texas power, one of one of the most energetic markets in the deployment of storage space systems worldwide.

Both Cunningham as well as the 6 projects under growth are eligible for the tax incentives (ITCs) attended to in the Inflation Reduction Act that the US federal government has actually implemented to improve the deployment of renewables, rise energy security and help reduce the cost of energy.

Rafael Mateo, Chief Executive Officer of Acciona Energía, said: "We have actually been working with battery storage for more than 10 years as well as our team believe that the innovation is ready for commercial deployment and consisted of in our growth strategy.

" This deal is an important milestone as it consists of the largest commercial project in among the most developed storage markets in the world. With 1214MW of renewable capacity operating and under construction in Texas, the purchase is an excellent possibility to reinforce Acciona Energía's presence in this market and also optimise the risk profile of our portfolio," he claimed.

Jae Kyu Lee, President of Qcells USA Corp, included: "Qcells is proud to supply our special building and construction and engineering options to Acciona Energía to bring this project to life as well as anticipate more progressing our long-lasting collaboration.

" We believe these projects will benefit the whole Texas power field by making clean as well as reputable energy more accessible to all."