Acciona Energía, a subsidiary of the Spanish infrastructure firm Acciona, has agreed to purchase the Cunningham battery energy storage system (BESS) project in Texas from Qcells. No financial details have been disclosed. The Cunningham facility, which is 55 miles from Dallas, is expected to come online in 2023 and will be the largest operating battery energy storage project in Texas. The 190 MW/380 MWh BESS plant will have cells with liquid cooling manufactured by CATL and 159 cabinets with 2.4MWh blocks made by Sungrow.
Additionally, a BESS project portfolio with a capacity of more than 1GW that is now in the advanced phases of development will be acquired as part of the deal. Once operational, the Cunningham facility will provide the state’s independent system operator, Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), with electricity and related services. Qcells is a subsidiary of South Korean industrial group Hanwha Corporation.
In November 2022, Acciona Energía announced plans to invest A$2 billion to build a wind farm in Queensland, Australia. The 1 GW Herries Range wind farm would be built within the MacIntyre Wind Precinct, which is located west of Warwick, boosting the total value of the precinct to A$4 billion. The project would increase the precinct’s capacity for renewable energy to 2 GW, which can power 1.4 million Queensland homes.
REGlobal’s Views: The acquisition of the Cunningham storage facility along with 1 GW of additional battery storage portfolio that is in advanced stages of development will make Acciona well placed in the US energy storage market. Energy storage, especially battery energy storage space, is expected to grow rapidly as the country moves towards adding more renewable energy capacity in the near future.
