Ascend Analytics (“Ascend”), the leading provider of market intelligence and analytics solutions for the power industry, today announced that, following a rigorous competitive process Tokyo Gas America Ltd., (“TGA”) has begun operating Ascend’s customized bid optimization platform, SmartBidder™, at TGA’s 174 MW Longbow battery energy storage system (BESS) project. 

The Longbow BESS project, located in Brazoria County, Texas, was acquired by TGA last year from developer Clean Capital Partners and underscores the company’s commitment to providing clean, reliable and innovative energy solutions to the ERCOT-Houston region. With Houston’s growing demand for power and ERCOT’s ongoing price volatility, Longbow will contribute to stabilizing power supply by providing a range of energy and ancillary service market products. Ascend’s SmartBidder is helping to maximize the financial performance of this activity by enabling TGA to develop and implement customized bid strategies, based on nodal specific forecasts, asset specific constraints, and risk-based optimization for day-ahead and real-time bids. 

In the lead up to Longbow’s May 16th commercial operating date and the deployment of SmartBidder, Ascend also provided the project development team with in-depth ERCOT market intelligence and dynamic bidding analytics that informed the company’s market participation and risk management approaches. By utilizing the forecasting capabilities of Ascend’s Market Intelligence (“AscendMI™”) platform to incorporate current and projected ERCOT energy market dynamics, as well as forecasted zonal and nodal price evolution, TGA was able to account for nuanced power market conditions. Furthermore, SmartBidder's simulations of dynamic bidding into ERCOT, including the critical ERCOT Contingency Reserve Service (ECRS), coupled with Ascend’s analytical support, enabled TGA to hone a comprehensive asset management strategy for Longbow. 

"As our first foray into the strategically significant ERCOT BESS market, confidence in Longbow’s ongoing financial and operational performance is critical to the project’s success” said Eiichiro Fujii, Chief Executive Officer, Tokyo Gas America. “Partnering with Ascend not only affords us a competitive advantage when bidding into ERCOT’s energy markets, it also provides us with a foundational understanding of the shifting dynamics that drive opportunity in Texas’s energy transition.”  

“The pace and scale of ERCOT’s adoption of renewables is creating complex new power market dynamics. For seasoned storage investors and new entrants alike, navigating these emerging dynamics and seizing the opportunities they present requires a deep understanding of the drivers of scarcity and price volatility,” commented Gary Dorris, Chief Executive Officer, Ascend Analytics. “TGA’s longstanding commitment to innovation and ingenuity in energy markets has them poised to seize these opportunities and we are proud to be their partner in profitably advancing the energy transition.”