Dive Brief:
- Eversource Energy, National Grid and Unitil have filed long-term contracts with the developers of three utility-scale energy storage projects set to bring 1,068 MW/4,472 MWh of capacity to Massachusetts by 2030, the utilities and the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources said last week.
- The projects include Jupiter Power’s 700 MW/2,800 MWh Trimount and two Flatiron Energy projects, the 250 MW/1,000 MWh Energizar and the 168 MW/672 MWh Salt Cod. When operational, they will provide clean peaking capacity and alleviate transmission congestion in Greater Boston and southeastern Massachusetts, the companies say — the same areas where Eversource is piloting localized virtual power plants to mitigate power supply-demand imbalances.
- The agreements advance Massachusetts’s ongoing effort to deploy 5 GW of energy storage by 2030. Earlier this year, Democratic Gov. Maura Healey announced plans to procure an additional 5 GW of energy storage by 2035 as part of a broader push to add 15 GW of non-emitting capacity to the state’s grid.
Dive Insight:
The three projects emerged from the first solicitation in a request for proposal process targeting up to 1,500 MW of battery power capacity in transmission-connected projects with at least 40 MW of power capacity each.
A fourth project, Rhynland Energy’s 200-MW River Mill Storage project, also came out of the solicitation but has not yet inked a long-term contract with any of the three Massachusetts utilities. Rhynland did not respond to a request for comment from Utility Dive.
The second solicitation in the current request for proposal process seeks 250 MW to 300 MW of distribution-connected storage projects of at least 1 MW of power capacity. Additional RFPs will seek 3,500 MW of energy storage power capacity by July 2030, according to the MDER.
Financial analyses filed with the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities showed the projects would modestly reduce most customers’ monthly bills over the next five to 15 years.
Jupiter Power’s Trimount is the largest of the three projects that have filed long-term utility contracts. It is expected to be New England’s biggest energy storage installation by some distance when it comes online later this decade.
The project’s capacity contracts split 200 MW for Fitchburg Gas & Electric Light, Unitil’s Massachusetts subsidiary, and 500 MW for National Grid’s Massachusetts subsidiaries. It will take shape on 20 acres at a former oil terminal in Everett, just north of Boston, and connect at the nearby Mystic substation. Jupiter Power says it will bolster reliability, alleviate demand peaks and reduce voltage and frequency fluctuations on the regional grid.
A few miles east of Trimount at a former industrial site in Chelsea, Flatiron Energy’s Energizar will also stabilize the grid and mitigate demand peaks. The project will help use locally produced renewable energy more efficiently too, Flatiron says. The company aims to begin operations in the second quarter of 2027.
Flatiron expects its Salt Cod project to begin operations toward the end of 2028. It will occupy an 11-acre section on the site of Montaup Power Plant, a coal- and oil-fired generator on the waterfront of the southeastern Massachusetts town of Somerset. The plant shut down in 2010.
An Italian company canceled plans to build a subsea cable manufacturing plant on the site last year as the Trump administration’s assault on the nascent U.S. offshore wind industry dimmed hopes for a lasting boom. An earlier analysis from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center indicated the site would be suitable for storage and manufacturing of offshore wind blades, monopiles, nacelles and other equipment.
