CPS Energy announced Wednesday it has secured an additional 350 megawatts of battery energy storage, bringing the utility’s portfolio up to 400 megawatts of total battery energy storage.
The utility has entered into two contracts with Eolian L.P., a portfolio company of Global Infrastructure Partners, for an additional 350 megawatts of battery energy storage, adding to a 50-megawatt agreement the utility signed with Eolian last year, CPS Energy announced in a press release Wednesday. One megawatt is enough to power about 250 homes on a hot Texas day.
The battery energy storage projects, called “Ferdinand” and “Padua 2,” have a storage capacity of 200 megawatts and 150 megawatts respectively. Both projects are located in southern Bexar County and are being newly constructed. They are expected to go online sometime within the first half of 2026.
Having storage resources strategically located in CPS Energy’s service territory contributes to overall grid resiliency and benefits customers, CPS Energy states in the press release.
“I am proud of the work CPS Energy has done to secure another 350 megawatts of generation for our growing community,” said Rudy Garza, president and CEO of CPS Energy. “This is another step in executing on our Vision 2027 generation plan and we are excited about the benefits it will provide to our community through both reliability and economic development.”
The additional 350 megawatts equates to about four hours of battery energy storage, and represent “the single largest buildout of standalone battery energy storage in ERCOT to date,” said Aaron Zubaty, CEO of Eolian.
Zubaty added the agreements prove that the deployment of flexible energy storage resources can bridge the many years until new transmission can be constructed to further support load growth and alleviate systemwide congestion.
“These project locations were carefully chosen years ago,” Zubaty said, “to actually reduce the burden on the transmission system and enhance overall market operations by providing resiliency and reliability within load pockets and adjacent to retiring thermal generating units while reducing congestion on key transmission pathways.”
The projects are expected to help serve the energy needs of the San Antonio community for a 20 year period, CPS Energy states in the press release. As part of a related community benefits agreement, the project entities will contribute at least $175,000 each year to CPS Energy-sponsored activities and scholarships within the Greater San Antonio area for five years, once the projects are operational.
Prior to 2023, CPS had just 10 megawatts operational in its portfolio.
Dykema Gossett PLLC served as external legal advisor to CPS Energy in connection with the negotiation of the contracts, the utility states in its release.
The move is part of CPS Energy’s efforts to grow its portfolio and move away from older technologies. In January 2023, the utility’s board approved a new generation plan as part of the utility’s Vision 2027. CPS Energy has since added 1,710 megawatts of natural gas generation, 500 megawatts of natural gas firming capacity, an additional 84 megawatts of wind capacity, has contracted 730 megawatts of solar energy and 50 megawatts of energy storage.
The utility began a search for contractors who can help it build or acquire up to 500 additional megawatts of “energy storage systems” — such as batteries — starting in September 2023.
