NEWS
January 27, 2024
USA Today | “This state is quickly becoming America’s clean energy paradise. Here’s how it’s happening.”
Hawaii pledged to be “Coal free by ’23,” and state law mandates 100% clean energy in just 21 years. Attaining that goal came closer last month when Plus Power’s Kapolei Energy Storage, an enormous 185-megawatt battery near Honolulu, hummed into full operation.
January 17, 2024
Plus Power | “Rodeo Ranch Energy Storage in West Texas helped avert blackouts during latest winter storm”
This week, as projected cold temperatures in Texas reached almost Winter Storm Uri level, ERCOT faced eye-popping record demand again—and 15 GW of unavailable resources according to ERCOT—but the grid didn’t go into rolling blackouts or fail. The reasons include Plus Power’s third utility-scale battery plant to go online, now the largest operating standalone battery energy storage facility in Texas: Rodeo Ranch in Pecos.
September 12, 2023
The Texas Tribune | “As brutal heat tests Texas’ power grid, batteries play a small but growing role in keeping the lights on”
Battery supporters credit the technology for helping during tight times when every megawatt counts to keep the power on for Texas’ growing population. This summer, batteries have mostly sold their power to meet high demand around 7 p.m. or 8 p.m. when solar production winds down as the sun sets but temperatures are still high. Energy consultant and battery advocate Doug Lewin calls that the “white knuckle part of the evening” for ERCOT, when batteries’ relatively small contribution to the grid can still be “determinative” to meeting what has been record-high demand during Texas’ second-hottest summer ever.
April 13, 2023
AZ Central | “SRP starts work on Arizona's largest standalone battery project in this metro Phoenix city”
SRP and Houston-based Plus Power, joined by officials from Avondale, held a ceremonial ground breaking at the previously announced battery facility Wednesday. The new Sierra Estrella energy storage facility will hold electricity produced during low-use periods and release it when demand is higher, helping to power more than 56,000 average-sized homes for a four-hour period.
January 25, 2023
S&P Global | “Supercharged: U.S. Energy Storage Reaches for Deeper Impact”
The U.S. energy storage industry has a powerful set of new tools in 2023 to help decarbonize the nation’s power grid. Plus Power COO Julie Blunden joined Garret Hering’s Supercharged virtual webinar to discuss the opportunities and the considerable challenges ahead for battery storage. “It will be a while before we have fully domestic batteries for energy storage—but that may not be the requirement.”
December 30, 2022
S&P Global | “'We're in a perpetual short': US energy storage CEOs face limits of growth”
Garrett Hering on a second great piece on the unprecedented volumes of battery storage” in development: “roughly 57 GW of large-scale energy storage resources are planned for connection to the U.S. grid between 2022 and 2025.” "Over the next three years, I think we're in a perpetual short," said Brandon Keefe, CEO of Houston-based developer Plus Power, which is offering its near-term excess battery cell orders to fellow developers short on supplies. "Those who already went out and procured supply are going to have successful projects and those who don't [have batteries] are going to have issues."
November 15, 2022
S&P Global | “US energy storage wave builds strength amid delays”
Garrett Hering on the coming wave of energy storage deployments, starting with Plus Power’s Kapolei Energy Storage facility in Hawaii and our 250-MW Sierra Estrella Energy Storage and 90-MW Superstition Energy Storage facilities for Salt River Project. The piece notes Plus Power having secured an excess of battery supply – 6.5 GWh—to serve our projects coming online through 2025 and more. "”The next year is going to be a game of musical chairs of those who have supply and those who don't," Keefe said. Plus Power is talking with fellow developers in need.”
August 18, 2021
Canary Media | “Hawaii building huge new battery, bidding farewell to coal”
Julian Spector describes the unique grid-forming and blackstart services of Plus Power’s planned 185 MW/ 565 MWh KES facility on Oahu, Hawaii, beyond its main role of absorbing abundant, low-cost renewable energy and shifting it to when energy is needed most. “Put simply, KES is a test case for how to switch from fossil fuels to clean energy without relying on gas power in a pinch.”
August 6, 2021
Forbes I “Plus Power: Charging Into New Storage Markets”
Peter Kelly-Detwiler on Plus Power’s data-driven strategies to deploy utility-scale stand alone energy storage across the U.S.
September 15, 2020
Green Tech Media | “The Race Is On to Build the Biggest Batteries in Texas”
San Francisco-based storage developer Plus Power did the early legwork on those two sites before selling to BRP, GTM learned. Earlier this year, Plus Power also won a massive battery contract to displace a coal plant on Oahu, Hawaii. "Plus [Power] identified an early opportunity for storage to provide valuable services in Texas," CEO Brandon Keefe said. "Broad Reach was the right partner at the time to bring this project from [notice to proceed] to online."