UK-based Habitat Energy has expanded into the US power market with plans to optimise a portfolio of 60MW of battery energy storage system (BESS) assets.
With a partnership signed with Glidepath Power Solutions, Habitat will optimise the company’s 10MW/10MWh “prospect” battery storage project situated in West Columbia, Texas. Habitat will also optimise Glidepath’s 50MW Byrd Ranch storage project in Sweeny, Texas.
The optimisation of the projects will be achieved via the use of Habitat’s trading platform, with full route-to-market capabilities for both the wholesale and balancing markets. It is based on the company’s proprietary software PowerIQ, which combines algorithmic forecasting and AI.
“Our team knows that making storage projects succeed in a rapidly evolving energy sector requires deep understanding of both technology and market specifics,” said Chris McKissack, CEO of Glidepath.
“We’ve seen that Habitat’s tools can give our projects a competitive edge and help us provide the more flexible, reliable grid that energy users need.”
Habitat will aim to increase its overseas portfolio building on its over 700MW of storage capacity in the UK.
For the US market, Habitat will not only focus on battery storage optimisation, but also on renewables and hybrid facilities.
The firm stated that it recognises the substantial revenue opportunity that sophisticated AI optimisation can deliver by trading across Day Ahead and Real Time markets in addition to dynamically analysing hub and node price differentials in real time.
Habitat and Glidepath are both portfolio companies of Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners.
“I am excited to lead Habitat’s US launch in Texas with committed plans, supported by Quinbrook, to expand rapidly into other ISOs next year,” said Mike Kirschner, managing director of Habitat Energy USA.
“The power sector is in a period of dramatic change, with renewables and storage now dominating new capacity investment. AI-enabled forecasting and optimisation is a critical functional need in order to respond to the hectic pace of the energy transition.
“Habitat is at the forefront of this digital revolution in power markets, with the demonstrated ability to consistently outperform its competitors in the UK. Habitat’s unique algorithmic and data science skills is what attracted me to take on the leadership role here in the US and help realise the huge potential in this market.”
This is the latest development in Habitat’s expansion of its services into North America. In May 2021, the firm agreed a partnership with Canadian Solar, one of the world’s largest solar technology and renewable energy companies.
As reported at the time, the partnership would see the Ontario based company offer Habitat enhanced technology solutions for developers and owners of battery storage assets across its operations, enabling them to capture additional revenue from trading optimisation.