Eolian

America’s strategic imperative to expand domestic AI computing power is driving a frenzied nationwide data center development race and leading to a prolonged period of insatiable electricity load growth. Battery energy storage has already been deployed at scale in competitive markets like Texas and has proven to be an essential tool to meet daily reliability and capacity needs while simultaneously providing the fast response and flexibility required to keep integrating larger volumes of the renewable energy needed to attain net-zero targets.   Today’s Washington Post story shows how Omaha is an example of what is playing out across the country and how utilities can step up to provide reliable solutions like batteries, that address both load and community health for a sustainable American energy transition that can help us win the global AI race.   “The disputes in Omaha over data centers and power demand are playing out across the United States. Rapid data center growth has also been accompanied by utility plans to prolong the use of coal in Georgia, Utah and Wisconsin. The Nebraska story reveals in detail how the race by giant technology companies to gain the advantage in AI is conflicting with climate goals and potentially harming public health.   “If not for the data centers and poor planning by the utility, they would not need to push to keep those coal units open,” said Devi Glick, a principal at the consulting firm Synapse Energy Economics. “It is disingenuous to say that is not what is driving this.”   Omaha emerged as prime territory because of its bountiful, cheap electricity and seemingly endless opportunities to convert cornfields into vast solar and wind farms.   “Given the large and growing data center footprint in Omaha, it is confounding that the local utility would intentionally impede the addition of multi-hour battery energy storage resources,” said Eolian CEO Aaron Zubaty.”   https://lnkd.in/et9As68u   #AI #DataCenters #EnergyStorage #RenewableEnergy #Sustainability #NetZero #BatteryStorage #CleanEnergy #EnergyTransition #TechInnovation #ElectricityDemand #UtilitySolutions #SustainableFuture

Eolian was featured in an article in the San Antonio Express-News by Sara DiNatale and Ricardo Delgado, which also highlights the important role that batteries play in our community. “Solar and storage saved the Texas summer,” said Stephanie Smith, chief operating officer at Eolian, a company that has renewable generating and storage capacity in Texas. “We didn’t really have the scarcity events that we had just one year ago, and the heat index was almost as bad most of the summer.” And according to Eric Stoutenburg, our Director of Energy Storage, ERCOT systems collect control data every four seconds from batteries connected to the grid that show in real time if there are problems. Plant operators and local fire departments also have alarms tied to the sites. “There’s a whole series of automatically cascading alarms that will actually shut down any system” if problems arise, he said. Read more below. #EnergyStorage #resiliency #reliability https://lnkd.in/emjJaPBe

Eolian CEO Aaron Zubaty was featured in the The New York Times this morning in an article written by J. David Goodman. This summer, while ERCOT electricity demand on some days exceeded the extreme levels seen in 2023, the state’s electrical grid not only held strong but thrived, in a complete reversal from the scarcity conditions seen just one year ago. How? Thanks to the growing diversity of its generating resources and massive year-over-year increases in the installed capacity of battery energy storage and solar plants that were built to directly target the hours of highest risk and need on the grid, and that showed up when needed most.   “The abject irony is that the once-freewheeling power market is now on the precipice of becoming fully government-controlled,” said Aaron Zubaty, the chief executive of Eolian, which invests in energy projects. “New technologies have provided market solutions and scaled rapidly,” he said. The result, he added, is that legacy gas-fired power generators and their political backers are trying to increase barriers for the newcomers and “push the market to go all-in on natural gas.”  #ERCOT #EnergyStorage #orderlytransition #resiliency #reliability #flexible https://lnkd.in/g4BNHNjD

Today, Eolian entered into two new Storage Capacity Agreements (SCAs) for 350 MW/1,400 MWh with CPS Energy. When added to a previously signed 50 MW/100 MWh SCA between CPS Energy and Eolian, this marks the largest standalone battery storage buildout in ERCOT history and is the first announcement of 4+ hour duration energy storage projects in ERCOT, supporting CPS Energy’s Vision 2027 Generation Plan and playing a crucial role in enhancing grid resiliency for the San Antonio area.   Alongside the total of 400 MW/1,500 MWh of SCAs contracted with CPS Energy, Eolian is also constructing 200 MW/1,000 MWh merchant project phase, which will result in a total of 600 MW/2,500 MWh of new battery energy storage online by early 2026 to serve critical substations in San Antonio. The full 400 MW Padua site is being constructed using nearly 1.9 GWh of Tesla Megapacks, making this one of the largest standalone battery energy storage sites in the world. 🔋 🌍   The 200 MW Ferdinand project site is situated in South San Antonio adjacent to the Leon Creek power plant and will help to support local load growth and datacenter expansions. The 400 MW Padua site has begun construction next to the Calaveras Lake complex of power plants currently operated by CPS Energy, including JK Spruce and OW Sommers. Notably, this substation is at the northern end of the most congested and costly transmission path in the entire ERCOT market, and the addition of 400 MW of dispatchable capacity at this location will provide cost-saving benefits not only to CPS customers but to the entire ERCOT market by providing a multi-year ‘reliability bridge’ until new transmission lines can be constructed in the region by 2030.    “Following on to the 50 MW Padua 1 project already under construction for CPS Energy, this additional 350 MW of four-hour duration battery energy storage capacity agreements and a further 200 MW of five-hour duration battery storage will provide new dispatchable capacity to the San Antonio area starting in 2025, representing the single largest buildout of standalone battery energy storage in ERCOT to date and proving that deployment of fast and flexible energy storage resources at critical grid locations can bridge the many years until new transmission can be constructed to further support load growth and alleviate systemwide congestion,” added Aaron Zubaty, CEO of Eolian. “These project locations were carefully chosen years ago to actually reduce the burden on the transmission system and enhance overall market operations by providing resiliency and reliability within a critical load pocket and adjacent to retiring thermal generating units while simultaneously reducing congestion on key high-risk transmission pathways.”   #ERCOT #EnergyStorage #orderlytransition #resiliency #reliability #flexible #megapack #tesla https://lnkd.in/gHDuRE4D

Last night, the Texas grid hit a new all-time record for peak energy demand, and at nearly the exact same time, WFAA aired a report on the phenomenal growth of battery energy storage across Texas, featuring Eolian’s 100 MW Chisholm Energy Storage Project that connects to a major substation in Fort Worth. WFAA’s reporting highlighted how energy storage sites like our Chisholm location are making a major impact this summer, helping keep the lights on and consumer costs down by enabling existing gas-fired plants to participate in the energy market instead of sitting in reserve, thereby unlocking critical gas-fired capacity during the hours of most need. The growth of battery energy storage across the grid is like planting "Seeds in the ground,” said Eolian COO Stephanie Smith. As even larger energy storage projects enter construction in vital locations across the grid, these important resources “just need time to grow." WFAA also highlighted a recent study by Aurora Energy Research, which showed that the availability of battery energy storage resources is pivotal in times of peak demand and saved Texans $750 million in just two days during a cold snap in January 2024. The role of battery energy storage will continue to grow, and will show that a market and grid that uses the unique attributes of all resources in concert is ultimately more secure and reliable for all.   Check out this insightful interview! #energystorage #reliable #orderlytransition #ERCOT https://lnkd.in/dzD4WFCw

Great job, Team Eolian for your hard work at PBC's Habitat Restoration event! Your enthusiasm and joy made the time fly as you worked. We hope you enjoyed engaging with our naturalist about clean energy and native vs. nonnative plants! Please volunteer with us again and we encourage you to keep taking steps toward and cleaner and greener future! 🌱 Interested in bringing your #team to a habitat restoration or #beachcleanup? Sign up here for the next one here: https://lnkd.in/gaqyyrHH Brianna Rosales Frances Kriegh, CPA Jacob C. Heffelfinger

Eolian worked with a respected group of global financial institutions (Santander Corporate & Investment Bank, MUFG, National Australia Bank, Natixis, Lloyds, and SMBC) to complete the closing of a $315 million renewable energy green loan aligned with the four pillars of the Green Loan Principles, as well as a $75 million revolving credit facility that adds to Eolian’s existing balance-sheet backed credit tools.   "It is with deep gratitude to this esteemed group of global financial institutions that we announce another long-term financing backed by our portfolio of diversified and reliable cashflows, generated solely from a broad set of operating renewable energy projects across the US. The closing of these facilities provides further validation of our creative and patient strategies for developing the vital infrastructure that will solve the growing energy supply challenges of the future.” Aaron Zubaty, CEO, Eolian   #GreenFinance #EnergyTransition #ProblemSolvers  https://lnkd.in/g4REdsts

👏 Congratulations to Salt River Project and Aypa Power on the 250 MW / 1 GWh Signal Butte project that will begin operations in 2026 at an SRP 230 kV substation! 👏 It is a timely example of how energy storage is now being added in critical locations to help support the growth of data centers and load in general, and reliability and resiliency by operating a portfolio that includes flexible units that can both absorb and discharge electrons based on system conditions.    “Signal Butte’s siting adjacent to a substation serving multiple operating and under-construction data centers was no coincidence when we began development of the project in 2018. The continued growth of our economy now depends more than ever on deploying fast-responding and flexible resources in the right locations to provide critical instantaneous capacity, and battery energy storage projects like Signal Butte can be built at a speed that matches and enables continued rapid growth in electricity demand,” added Aaron Zubaty, CEO of Eolian, L.P.  #energystorage #reliable #flexible #datacenters  https://lnkd.in/gerNXiyJ

“Utility-scale storage is a safe and reliable tool necessary for a sustainable and resilient energy transition,” says Stephanie Smith, COO of Eolian and a member of American Clean Power Association (ACP) ’s board of directors. “Across the industry, we are committed to integrating battery energy storage systems into the grid with safety at the forefront. ACP’s model ordinance is a proactive step toward helping communities across the country incorporate these important energy resources safely and effectively.” #energystorage #reliability https://lnkd.in/gsbVe3jE

Eolian COO Stephanie Smith is a key speaker at the packed panel Market Design Lessons from Texas and California at the ACP RECHARGE conference. "Batteries can do a lot of things in Texas."