Chicago: E.ON North America announced February 28 the inclusion of lithium ion battery storage at its two Texas Waves energy storage projects at the existing E.ON Pyron and Inadale wind farms in West Texas. Texas Waves consists of two 9.9 megawatt short-duration energy storage projects using lithium-ion battery technology. The Texas Waves projects will be the second and third grid connected lithium-ion battery systems installed by E.ON in North America and are expected to be online by the end of 2017.
The projects are designed to provide ancillary services to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) market and will be capable of responding to shifts in power demand more quickly, increasing system reliability and efficiency.
"The battery energy storage systems will be an integral part of the wind farm facilities near Roscoe, Texas, and will be charged from the wind farm," said Mark Frigo, VP of Energy Storage North America at E.ON. "These projects will benefit from the lessons learned and experience accumulated on our Iron Horse project, which is currently under construction."
Iron Horse, E.ON's first grid connected lithium battery system project, is a 10 MW energy storage facility with an adjacent 2 MW solar array southeast of Tucson, Ariz., and is expected to be in operation in the first half of 2017.
E.ON will be partnering with Greensmith Energy, the leading provider of energy storage software and services, for the Texas Waves projects.
E.ON has developed, built, and operates more than 3,000 MW of solar and wind renewable energy generation across the U.S., with more on the way. E.ON also notes that it offers O&M and asset management services to third party owner/operators looking for "Service with an Owner's Eye."