Equinor-owned developer East Point Energy has completed construction and started operations at the 100MW/200MWh Citrus Flatts battery energy storage system (BESS) in Harlingen, Texas — announced 3 September and the company's second operational project after the 10MW/20MWh Sunset Ridge facility, which started up last year.
Key facts:
- From developer to IPP: Citrus Flatts sits in Cameron County on the US–Mexico border; Equinor acquired East Point in 2022 and greenlit two Texas projects in 2024 — Sunset Ridge in Frio County and Citrus Flatts. The company says the projects mark East Point's "progression from developer to independent power producer (IPP), in line with Equinor's strategy to capture value across the value chain"
- Merchant model, trading arm optimisation: both assets operate fully merchant, with Equinor's trading arm Danske Commodities providing optimisation services; real base returns are targeted at the higher end of the company's guided 4-8% range for renewables
- Scaling track record: Equinor has now put five BESS facilities into commercial operation over the past four years; outside Texas, construction has begun on its Virginia PJM portfolio — four projects totalling 80MW/160MWh, on track for commercial operation in early 2027
- Market context: the Texas BESS market stays active despite a growing fleet competing for revenues — last month Ørsted brought its 250MW/500MWh Old 300 BESS in Needville online, co-located with the 430MW Old 300 Solar PV plant. Meanwhile 2025's retreat from a 116MW New York project — after the Town of Carmel banned new utility-scale BESS — shows siting headwinds persist outside ERCOT
WHY IT MATTERS
- Oil majors are becoming storage IPPs: Equinor's developer-to-IPP path — five assets in four years, trading-arm optimisation — is the template now being replicated across European energy capital, a structural buyer of BESS technology.
- Merchant ERCOT vs capacity markets: Citrus Flatts proves pure merchant economics can still support 200MWh-scale builds in Texas — a useful contrast to this week's German capacity-market debate, where batteries are fighting for contracted revenue instead.
- 2-year delivery clock: approved 2024 → online 2026 shows the Texas project cycle, and the 2027 target for Equinor's PJM entry sets the next marker for US utility-scale supply demand.
- Siting risk is the silent variable: the withdrawn New York project is a reminder that storage growth outside ERCOT hinges on local permitting — directly relevant to anyone expanding into new US states.
THE EXLIPORC PERSPECTIVE Whether a utility-scale asset is paid by a capacity mechanism or by merchant trading, one layer decides whether the economics survive: reliable, cycle-rich storage hardware and honest performance data. The same logic applies one level down — in homes and small commercial sites, where system longevity (EXLIPORC's LFP line is rated for 8,000+ cycles at 80% DoD) and real-time monitoring determine payback. Contact gina@exliporcpower.com or visit www.exliporcpower.com.
