Tuesday, April 23, 2024
BEATING THE HEAT: The new DeCordova Energy Storage Facility — the largest of its kind in Texas — is now online, with the ability to instantly release energy to the power grid and is capable of storing enough electricity to power 130,000 Texas homes.
Vistra, one of the largest power generators in the United States, recently announced that its newest energy storage facility in DeCordova is now online, storing and releasing electricity to the ERCOT grid just in time for another hot Texas summer.
According to a Vistra news release, the 260-megawatt/260 megawatt-hour battery energy storage project is the largest of its kind in Texas.
Built on the site of a natural gas power plant operated by Vistra power generation subsidiary Luminant, the DeCordova Energy Storage Facility has the ability to instantly release energy to the power grid.
Plans to construct a new battery storage plant were first announced in September 2020. Construction began in June 2021, and the facility was completed in less than a year.
According to the Vistra press release, DeCordova is the second of seven new zero-carbon projects Vistra is bringing online in Texas over the next few years as part of its growing Vistra Zero portfolio. These new power generation facilities represent a nearly $1 billion capital investment by the company within the Texas ERCOT market.
"As our fleet and electric grids across the country transition to cleaner generation, we haven't lost sight of our essential role in providing reliable, affordable electricity,” Curt Morgan, CEO of Vistra, stated in the news release. “The battery storage technology at DeCordova accomplishes those objectives – providing instantaneous-start, dispatchable generation to help balance the intermittency of renewable energy as the electric grid transitions to low-to-zero-carbon resources. No doubt, a project of this size and an overall investment this ambitious solidifies Vistra's position as a market leader in investing in, owning, and operating emission-free power generation in Texas and beyond while balancing affordability and reliability."
Jim Burke, Vistra president and chief financial officer, added in the news release, "DeCordova offers a unique value proposition – not only can this battery system provide instantaneous full power to the grid with the flip of a switch, but it is also co-located on the same site as our quick-start DeCordova natural gas-fueled power plant. This pairing means we essentially have a large, one-hour battery system with dispatchable, reliable generation, leading to continuity of operation and resiliency of the grid.”
DeCordova’s facility has more than 3,000 individual lithium-ion battery modules, which can store enough electricity to power approximately 130,000 Texas homes, according to the press release. The batteries capture excess electricity from the grid, primarily overnight during high wind-output hours, and can release the power when customer demand is highest.
Burke also stated that the “gas-fueled units have seven days of diesel backup in the event of any disruption of natural gas supplies, which is yet another example of the resiliency aspect of the DeCordova site."
