Talen Energy to develop 1 GW of battery storage projects across three states
In an effort to shift to renewable energy and an increasingly digital infrastructure, Talen Energy Corporation announced intentions this week to build 1 GW of battery storage projects across three states over the next three to five years.
These projects will range approximately from 20 MW to 300 MW each. They will be settled on Talen-owned property and utilize existing fossil generation and transmission infrastructure to make their impact. This will support such assets’ shift to lower carbon and renewable generation and put the batteries where they can be most useful, including densely populated areas with high power demands.
“Talen’s battery storage development projects will play a key role in advancing our country’s clean energy transition,” Alex Hernandez, Talen president, said. “The batteries of the 1960s, also known as fossil power plants, will ultimately be converted to the batteries of tomorrow, which we believe will include battery packs utilizing various technologies. These battery projects, together with Talen’s existing zero carbon nuclear baseload generation, are intended to serve as a backstop for renewables’ intermittency, ensuring that power is available when needed. We believe our Giga-scale battery development pipeline will become increasingly valuable as battery technology improves and manufacturing costs decline with scale deployments.”
In addition to helping the company’s power offerings go green, these batteries will aid grid resilience in return. This has been a major concern as coal-fired facilities transition to lower carbon fuels such as natural gas.
The first two battery storage projects will be deployed adjacent to the H.A. Wagner coal facility in Baltimore and a natural gas facility in Camden, New Jersey. Wagner will cease burning coal by the end of 2025. Both demonstration battery projects are expected to begin construction later this year and bring 20 MW to each facility.
