Equinor's Largest US Battery Live in Texas — SkimNews
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- Citrus Flatts Energy Center, a 100 MW/200 MWh battery in Harlingen, Cameron County, is now operating commercially as Equinor's largest US battery storage project to date
- East Point Energy, Equinor's wholly owned US battery subsidiary, built and operates Citrus Flatts after acquiring it from Black Mountain Energy Storage in late 2023
- Citrus Flatts is East Point's second operational battery, following the 10 MW/20 MWh Sunset Ridge Energy Center in Frio County; together the pair can power roughly 30,000 Texas homes for up to two hours
- The battery runs on a fully merchant basis in the ERCOT market, with no long-term utility contract — Equinor's trading arm Danske Commodities will handle market operations and portfolio optimization
- Andrew Foukal, CEO of East Point Energy, said the project will generate millions in local tax revenue and help keep energy costs affordable as Texas demand grows
- EIA forecasts ERCOT battery capacity will roughly double-plus — from around 15 GW in 2025 to 37 GW by the end of 2027 — and utility-scale solar is projected to overtake coal in ERCOT in 2026
- Equinor's next US projects are four Virginia batteries totaling 80 MW/160 MWh, currently under construction and expected online in the PJM market in early 2027
Why it matters: Equinor is putting real merchant-battery capital into ERCOT — a market where battery capacity is set to nearly triple in two years — betting that price volatility and grid services, not long-term utility contracts, will drive returns. With 80 MW more already under construction in Virginia for PJM, Equinor is signaling it views speculative battery trading as a viable US business, not a one-off.
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