Nearly 1.1 GW of new capacity starts up in Texas power market in March: report

Almost 1.1 GW of generation capacity became operational in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas market in March, including a 199-MW natural gas-fired plant, according to a report released late April 3.

Another 855.2 MW of solar neared commercial operation, but more than 2.2 GW fell off the interconnection queue.

The Public Utility Commission of Texas seeks to enhance investment in dispatchable generation by means of a long-term market reform program called the Performance Credit Mechanism, but has delayed implementation until the Texas Legislature has its say, and the current biennial regular session ends May 29.

ERCOT deems generation that has either been approved for commercial operation or for synchronization as "operational," as it can supply power to the grid.

ERCOT approved 311 MW of capacity for commercial operation in March, about two-thirds of it battery storage and the remainder solar nameplate capacity.

ERCOT also approved almost 770 MW of capacity for synchronization, which means the capacity can supply the grid but does not yet make market offers of power. Of the newly synchronized capacity, more than 477 MW is dispatchable: 278.4 MW of battery storage and 199 MW of gas-fired capacity.

The gas unit is the Brotman Power Station in Brazoria County, near Houston. S&P Global Capital IQ's power plant database April 4 showed WattBridge Energy is building six 60.5-MW gas turbines at the Brotman site, totaling 363 MW at an estimated project cost of more than $340 million.

Battery storage surging

On March 17, ERCOT approved Wartsila's two 101.5-MW battery storage projects for commercial operation in Hidalgo County near the Mexican border and the Gulf Coast.

Other operational battery storage projects are scattered around the state:

• 155.5 MW in Webb County near Laredo in the middle of Texas' border with Mexico
• 103 MW in Williamson County, north of Austin
• 10 MW in Young County, about 100 miles west of Fort Worth, Texas

The last stage before synchronization is energization, and ERCOT approved two projects for this category: the 602.8-MW Danish Fields Solar project in Wharton County near Houston and the 252.4-MW Sparta Solar project in Bee County, near Corpus Christi on the Gulf Coast.

In contrast, ERCOT deemed three solar projects totaling more than 1.2 GW of capacity as inactive because of the failure to meet completion milestones.

Also, developers canceled nine projects that could have added more than 1 GW of capacity to ERCOT's generation stack, including 616.6 MW of solar and 406 MW of wind.