Jupiter Power begins operations of 200-MWh Crossett Battery Storage system in stressed Texas Grid

June 29, 2022
Jupiter Power’s second major transmission grid-connected battery project is called one of the largest in the ERCOT territory. The Crossett battery array in Crane County will hold energy for fast-response, dispatchable power

The 200-MWh Crossett battery energy storage site has started commercial operations in the high-demand Electric Reliability Council of Texas grid.

Jupiter Power’s second major transmission grid-connected battery project is called one of the largest in the ERCOT territory. The Crossett battery array in Crane County will hold energy for fast-response, dispatchable power into the grid during times of peak demand.

"We reach yet another significant milestone in our ERCOT battery energy storage portfolio with the commencement of commercial operations at the Crossett facility," said Mike Geier, Chief Technology Officer, Jupiter Power, in a statement.

Indeed, a scorching summer already has placed huge demand on the ERCOT system well ahead of the usual peaks in August. The system operator has reported all-time records of more than 76,000 MW (76 GW) at various times this month.

The ERCOT system totals close to 91 GW in firm, available capacity. These assets include gas, coal, nuclear, wind and solar.

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Extreme summer and winter events have stressed the Texas grid in recent years. Rolling outages often are a result of those events.

"We have witnessed the strain that the Texas climate can put on the grid during unseasonably warm days,” Jupiter Power’s Geier added. “Jupiter Power's projects like Crossett and Flower Valley II are optimally sited where the grid needs support to enhance resiliency both cost-effectively and reliably."

Flower Valley II is a 100-MW/200-MWh transmission-connected facility in operation in Reeves County, Texas. Jupiter also has three distribution grid-connected energy storage facilities. Additionally, Jupiter Power is commissioning a subsequent 100MW/200MWh project in West Texas that will be in commercial operations in the summer of 2022.    

Last year, Jupiter Power announced it would build six stand-alone, utility-scale battery storage projects over the following year, totaling 652 megawatt-hours of energy storage capacity. The projects consist of three 200-megawatt-hour projects --including Crossett and Flower Valley II--and three smaller projects, each strategically sited and configured at optimized locations.

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(Rod Walton, senior editor for EnergyTech, is a 14-year veteran of covering the energy industry both as a newspaper and trade journalist. He can be reached at [email protected]).

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About the Author

Rod Walton, EnergyTech Managing Editor | Senior Editor

For EnergyTech editorial inquiries, please contact Managing Editor Rod Walton at [email protected].

Rod Walton has spent 15 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist. He formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.

Walton earned his Bachelors degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma. His career stops include the Moore American, Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise, Wagoner Tribune and Tulsa World. 

EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids. The C&I sectors together account for close to 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.

He was named Managing Editor for Microgrid Knowledge and EnergyTech starting July 1, 2023

Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.