Jupiter Power’s Flower Valley II energy storage facility comes online in Texas

Flower Valley II, one of the largest energy storage projects in Texas, has begun operations. The 200MWh Flower Valley II installation is the second battery facility on the site, which together represent an investment of more than $70 million. The company expects a total of more than 650MWh of dispatchable energy storage capacity to be operational before mid-summer in Texas.

Flower Valley II, Jupiter’s first transmission connected project, is a 100MW energy storage facility, enough power to meet the electricity needs of 20,000 homes at peak demand in Texas. The site is providing power to the ERCOT grid for use by Texas consumers, both through energy capacity and grid-firming ancillary services.

“Projections show that Texas will continue to lead the US in the addition of wind and solar generation,” said Bill Flores, former US Congressmen, Energy & Commerce Committee. “Renewable resources, however, add increasing complexity and reliability challenges to grid management, but the addition of significant energy storage and related technologies will help mitigate these challenges to help improve grid resilience and reliability as part of an ‘All of the Above’ energy solution to provide power while reducing emissions.”

Texas burns more coal and emits more sulfur dioxide than any other state, so the operation of Flower Valley II will help move the state toward a cleaner future. Recent research conducted at Rice University is modeling least-cost paths to a renewable energy future for Texas. The myriad of health and climate-related harms caused by coal do not need to persist any longer, according to the researchers. The research team found that just a third of the wind and solar projects proposed to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) by June 2020 could replace almost all of the state’s coal generation. Since June 2020, dozens of those projects have been built, and the queue of proposed solar projects has doubled.

Flower Valley II adjoins Flower Valley I, an existing distribution-connected Jupiter battery energy storage facility. Jupiter has two other transmission connected projects, each 200MWh, currently in commissioning in West Texas, with all capacity expected to be operational before the hot summer season in ERCOT territory.

This new facility puts Jupiter many steps closer to its goal of building and operating more than 650MWh of energy storage capacity in ERCOT.

“Our utility-scale energy storage projects provide fast-responding, dispatchable energy that is essential for allowing the grid to better match renewable resources with customer demand,” said Andy Bowman, Chief Executive Officer, Jupiter Power. “Jupiter Power is committed to pioneering strategies that both make the grid more resilient and bring the most affordable energy to customers when and where they need it, not just in the ERCOT market but also across the country.”