The technology group Wärtsilä will supply its advanced energy storage technology for two major projects in southern Texas, USA. The interconnected stand-alone systems will have a combined rated capacity of 200 MW. Wärtsilä has also signed ten-year guaranteed asset performance agreements for the installations. The order was placed by Able Grid Energy Solutions, Inc., a utility-scale energy storage project development arm of MAP RE/ES. The order was booked by Wärtsilä in February 2021.
The Madero and Ignacio energy storage plants will deliver valuable grid support to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the body responsible for managing the electric supply to more than 25 million customers. Wärtsilä will supply its next-generation, fully integrated GridSolv Quantum energy storage solution. The modular solution is designed for ease of deployment and sustainable energy optimization. The energy storage systems will also feature Wärtsilä’s GEMS smart energy management platform to monitor and control the flow of energy, enabling these projects to provide grid support for critical periods during extreme weather or grid instability conditions, such as those that Texas has recently experienced.
The systems are expected to become fully operational starting in January 2022.