Adapture Renewables, Inc. (“Adapture”), a utility-scale solar and energy storage project developer, owner and operator, today announced the commercial operation of two battery energy storage system (“BESS”) projects in Texas, marking the company’s first operational projects in their energy storage portfolio. To operate the systems, Adapture has engaged Ascend Analytics (“Ascend”), the leading provider of market intelligence and analytics solutions for the power industry, and will utilize its SmartBidder™ solution to maximize asset performance.

Texas’ primary grid operator, ERCOT, is predicting the state’s energy needs will increase in excess of 20% by 2030, an unprecedented acceleration of demand growth that will increasingly necessitate support from energy storage. Located in Collin County and Kimble County, Texas, the Adapture projects have the collective capacity to store and dispatch nearly 50 MWh, supporting the grid with sufficient power for up to 67,000 homes for one hour daily during peak electricity demand. The Collin and Kimble County projects, which began commercial operations on February 20th and March 3rd respectively, are already providing energy to the grid, and a third project in Galveston County, Texas is anticipated to come online in the fall, increasing this portfolio by 33% to 74 MWh.

Adapture owns, operates, and has in construction 815 Mega Watts peak (MWp) of solar projects in twelve states across the United States. The company’s expansion into battery storage, starting with these three grid-scale Distributed Generation Resource (“DGR”) projects in Texas, represents the next step in its strategy of partnering with energy customers, developers, landowners and communities to accelerate the global energy transition. 

“We are proud to mark the commercial operation of the first battery storage projects in our growing portfolio, part of our commitment to accelerating the global transition to clean energy,” said Thomas Houghton, President and Chief Executive Officer of Adapture Renewables. “With these projects, Adapture Renewables is bringing its proven track record of success, strong financial backing and deep in-house expertise to the energy storage sector. We’re pleased to be collaborating with leading partners like Ascend Analytics and Stella Energy Solutions, who share our vision for delivering and operating reliable clean energy projects.”

“Adapture Renewables has a distinguished track record of advancing renewable projects and its expansion into battery storage marks an important step forward in its mission of accelerating the global transition to clean energy,” said Gary Dorris, Chief Executive Officer of Ascend Analytics. “Driven by growing load and renewables’ increasing contribution to the supply mix, ERCOT’s evolving power market dynamics underscore the importance of battery storage in Texas and we are proud to partner with Adapture Renewables in driving these projects’ performance and stabilizing contributions to the grid.” 

All three projects will use Ascend’s SmartBidder to underpin the provision of energy and ancillary grid services through customized bid optimization and scheduling of the batteries’ dispatches.

Adapture Renewables acquired all three BESS projects from Stella Energy Solutions, a leading utility-scale clean energy platform that builds energy storage and solar infrastructure. The two companies collaborated on the design and development of the facilities, with Stella Energy Solutions leading the construction activities.