GridStor acquires 150MW/300MWh Texas BESS from Balanced Rock Power

Hidalgo County is also home to the 200MW/400MWh Anemoi standalone BESS (Premium access article), developed by Plus Power and cleared for operation in June 2024, and Apex Clean Energy’s 100MW/200MWh Great Kiskadee Storage project.

The county also hosts three BESS projects for sale from developer PureSky Energy as part of a 794MW/1,588MWh BESS portfolio in Texas.

GridStor says its BESS project comes at a critical time, noting that ERCOT says there will be an estimated 50% increase in the state’s peak load by 2030.

GridStor was founded in 2022, with backing from Goldman Sachs through Horizon Energy Storage, Goldman Sachs’ sustainable and infrastructure investing groups. In the asset management company’s 2022 sustainability report, it explains that investment in GridStor was to help with issues of power supply intermittency, which can be detrimental to scaling renewable energy projects.

GridStor soon began construction on its first project, the 60MW/160MWh BESS in Goleta, California, located in the county of Santa Barbara. This is also the largest BESS project in Santa Barbara County.

The company’s team also boasts experienced leadership. CEO Chris Taylor previously worked at Google, leading energy investing for the global data centre business.

Data centre growth from Google, Meta and other tech giants has led to an increased need in electric system reliability across the US. Recently, as part of its string of announced acquisitions, GridStor acquired a 200MW/800MWh BESS project in Oklahoma from Black Mountain Energy Storage (BMES).

The Southwest Power Pool (SPP), the Regional Transmission Organisation (RTO) managing electric grid operations across 14 states including Oklahoma, indicated an urgent need for new power resources to go online by 2030 to support electric system reliability and demand from data centres and other industrial customers.

GridStor’s VP of policy and strategy, Jason Burwen, previously worked as vice president of energy storage at the American Clean Power Association (ACP), which operates the political action committee (PAC) CleanPower.

Burwen also acted as interim CEO and vice president of policy as the US Energy Storage Association (ESA), which became part of the ACP in 2022. According to GridStor’s website, Burwen’s advocacy helped shape the energy storage federal investment tax credit in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

Investment Tax Credits (ITCs) were changed and extended under the IRA. As of 2022, the IRA broadened access to ITCs to include standalone energy storage, whereas previously only energy storage systems installed with and charging from solar PV systems were eligible. Gridstor’s CFO Frank Burkhartsmeyer discussed another new aspect of clean energy tax credits, transferability, in an interview with our site in April 2024 (Premium access).

GridStor uses the connections its company leadership has formed over years working in the clean energy industry to gain further insight into supply chain, tax equity and project financing.

Taylor said of the company’s most recently acquired project: “Battery storage is the fastest, scalable solution to provide reliability in the near-term to the Texas power system and its largest industries.”

“Batteries provide energy that stabilises the ERCOT electric grid and supplies its hours of greatest demand every day. Our acquisition demonstrates GridStor’s commitment to roll up our sleeves and build facilities that help Texas sustain its historic economic expansion.”

GridStor’s other recent acquisitions include the previously mentioned 200MW/800MWh Oklahoma BESS, a 100MW/400MWh BESS in Arizona and in 2024, the company acquired a 220MW/440MWh standalone BESS project in Galveston County, Texas, which began construction in October.