NEWS
January 27, 2024
USA Today | “This state is quickly becoming America’s clean energy paradise. Here’s how it’s happening.”
Hawaii pledged to be “Coal free by ’23,” and state law mandates 100% clean energy in just 21 years. Attaining that goal came closer last month when Plus Power’s Kapolei Energy Storage, an enormous 185-megawatt battery near Honolulu, hummed into full operation.
September 12, 2023
The Texas Tribune | “As brutal heat tests Texas’ power grid, batteries play a small but growing role in keeping the lights on”
Battery supporters credit the technology for helping during tight times when every megawatt counts to keep the power on for Texas’ growing population. This summer, batteries have mostly sold their power to meet high demand around 7 p.m. or 8 p.m. when solar production winds down as the sun sets but temperatures are still high. Energy consultant and battery advocate Doug Lewin calls that the “white knuckle part of the evening” for ERCOT, when batteries’ relatively small contribution to the grid can still be “determinative” to meeting what has been record-high demand during Texas’ second-hottest summer ever.
November 15, 2022
S&P Global | “US energy storage wave builds strength amid delays”
Garrett Hering on the coming wave of energy storage deployments, starting with Plus Power’s Kapolei Energy Storage facility in Hawaii and our 250-MW Sierra Estrella Energy Storage and 90-MW Superstition Energy Storage facilities for Salt River Project. Plus Power has secured an excess of battery supply—6.5 GWh—to serve its projects coming online through 2025 and more. "The next year is going to be a game of musical chairs of those who have supply and those who don't," CEO Brandon Keefe said. “Plus Power is talking with fellow developers in need.”
October 27, 2022
Phoenix Business Journal | “SRP signs deal for two more battery storage stations to handle peak power demand”
Salt River Project said Thursday that it will add two new battery storage systems that will go online in 2024 with a combined output of 340 megawatts, giving the Arizona utility company more options during times of heavy power demand. SRP said it signed contracts with Houston-based Plus Power for the two projects, which will be built in Avondale and Gilbert.
August 18, 2021
Canary Media | “Hawaii building huge new battery, bidding farewell to coal”
Julian Spector describes the unique grid-forming and blackstart services of Plus Power’s planned 185 MW/ 565 MWh KES facility on Oahu, Hawaii, beyond its main role of absorbing abundant, low-cost renewable energy and shifting it to when energy is needed most. “Put simply, KES is a test case for how to switch from fossil fuels to clean energy without relying on gas power in a pinch.”
August 6, 2021
Forbes I “Plus Power: Charging Into New Storage Markets”
Peter Kelly-Detwiler on Plus Power’s data-driven strategies to deploy utility-scale stand alone energy storage across the U.S.
February 11, 2021
Green Tech Media | “Plus Power Breaks Open New England Market for Massive Batteries”
San Francisco-based developer Plus Power won two bids in the latest capacity auction held by the New England ISO, which operates the transmission grid and competitive power markets in six northeastern states. That means that these two battery plants offered a compelling enough price to edge out some fossil fuel plants for delivering power on demand.
November 30, 2020
go Kapolei Magazine | “The Battery of our Future”
As Yoshimura said in July’s virtual town hall, “KES will end the use coal in Hawai’i, make the Hawaiian Electric grid more reliable, and allow the deployment of more renewable energy. It really is a ‘win-win-win’”.
September 18, 2020
Utility Dive | “Hawaiian Electric asks regulators to approve nearly 2 GWh storage, 300 MW solar contracts”
Plus Power is developing the standalone Kapolei Energy Storage (KES) project on Oahu. "With a commercial operation date of June 2022, the 185 MW KES project will help facilitate the retirement of the last coal plant in Hawaii," Allyson Sand, a developer with Plus Power, said in an email. The island's 180 MW coal plant, owned by AES, is set to retire in September 2022.
MAY 26, 2020
Green Tech Media | “Plus Power Enters Battery Big Leagues With Winning Project for Hawaiian Electric”
Developer Plus Power’s 185-megawatt battery will shift solar energy and deliver grid services to allow Oahu’s last coal plant to retire.
May 26, 2020
PRESS RELEASE: Plus Power’s 185 MW Kapolei Energy Storage Project Selected by Hawaiian Electric in State’s Largest Renewable Energy Procurement
The Kapolei Energy Storage Project Will Help End the Use of Coal in Hawai’i.