Equinor powers up 100 MW Texas battery — SkimNews
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- Equinor's Citrus Flatts Energy Center, a 100 MW/200 MWh battery in Harlingen, Cameron County, Texas, is now online, making it the company's largest US battery energy storage project to date.
- East Point Energy, Equinor's wholly owned US battery storage subsidiary, built and operates the facility and acquired it from Black Mountain Energy Storage in late 2023.
- Citrus Flatts is East Point's second commercial battery, following the 10 MW/20 MWh Sunset Ridge Energy Center in Frio County; together the two projects can power roughly 30,000 Texas homes for up to two hours.
- The battery runs on a fully merchant basis in the ERCOT market — no traditional long-term utility contract — with Equinor's trading subsidiary Danske Commodities handling market operations and portfolio optimization.
- EIA forecasts ERCOT battery capacity will jump from about 15 GW in 2025 to 37 GW by end of 2027, and expects utility-scale solar to generate 78 billion kWh in ERCOT in 2026, beating coal there for the first time.
- Equinor's next US projects are four batteries totaling 80 MW/160 MWh now under construction in Virginia, targeted for the PJM market in early 2027.
Why it matters: Going merchant in ERCOT is the bet: with battery capacity in the region projected to more than double from ~15 GW to 37 GW by end of 2027, Equinor is leaning on its trading arm Danske Commodities to capture price spreads and grid services revenue rather than locking in a utility contract — a higher-risk, higher-reward play as Texas solar-and-storage buildout outpaces coal.
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