Talen Energy Reveals 1 GW of Battery Storage Development Projects

Scotland's Largest Standalone Operational Battery Storage Project of 50 MW is Switched On

Talen Energy Corporation has announced that it is developing a one gigawatt stand-alone battery storage projects across its U.S. footprint. This development is a part of its strategic transformation to renewable energy and digital infrastructure growth platform.

The company is expected to develop these battery projects ranging from 20 to approximately 300 megawatts across three states, over the next three to five years. It will be utilizing Talen-owned land and legacy fossil generation and transmission infrastructure. In addition to generating value, and advancing Talen’s transformation, these projects serve as another tangible expression of Talen’s Force for Good ESG strategy which, in addition to decarbonizing its asset base, will invest in its communities and provide new opportunities for its people, the company claims.

Speaking of their upcoming developments, the President of Talen, Alex Hernandez stated, “Talen’s battery storage development projects will play a key role in advancing our country’s clean energy transition. 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.”

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“We believe our Giga-scale battery development pipeline will become increasingly valuable as battery technology improves and manufacturing costs decline with scale deployments,” Alex added.

The battery storage installations will support grid resiliency as Talen’s wholly-owned coal-fired facilities transition to run on lower-carbon fuels, including natural gas and co-located renewables.

Talen’s first two planned battery storage development projects are 20-megawatt demonstration projects adjacent to its H.A. Wagner (Baltimore, Md.) and Camden, N.J. generation facilities. The H.A. Wagner generation facility is among the coal-fired facilities that Talen announced will cease burning coal by the end of 2025 as part of its transformation to a sustainable, ESG-focused future. The Camden battery project is expected to serve as an added capacity resource adjacent to this natural gas generation facility. The company expects to begin construction on these demonstration projects in Q4 2021.

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“Our H.A. Wagner battery storage demonstration project will serve as a strong example of how batteries of the future are a key component to the clean energy transition and will contribute to grid stability and resiliency as traditional baseload generation units within this critical BGE market transition,” commented Cole Muller, head of Talen’s PJM generation business and decarbonization initiatives.

He further added, “We also believe it will provide a model that can be replicated throughout our national footprint as we convert legacy fossil plants and shift to the batteries of tomorrow.”