Spearmint, Polaris, Clearway Advance US Battery Projects

Why this is here: Clearway’s Honeycomb Energy Centre in Utah represents a US$600 million investment in electric infrastructure, pairing 320MW of battery storage with existing solar projects.

Spearmint Energy began commercial operation of two 100MW battery energy storage systems (BESS) in Texas, completing roughly six months of testing. Located in Del Rio and Laredo, the Tierra Seca and Seven Flags projects received US$250 million in financing from Manulife, East West Bank, Investec, and Sugar Creek Capital. Spearmint used Sungrow’s PowerTitan 2.0 platform for both installations, and recently received equity investment from Kyuden International, marking the Japanese firm’s first US BESS venture.

In Puerto Rico, the Financial Oversight and Management Board approved Polaris Renewable Energy’s agreement for a 71.4MW BESS project. This project is part of the Puerto Rico Accelerated Storage Addition Programme and aims to improve grid reliability. Polaris anticipates providing updated cost and timeline estimates soon, focusing on maintaining eligibility for investment tax credits.

Clearway Energy Group activated its 320MW/1,280MWh Honeycomb Energy Centre in Utah on May 6th. The US$600 million project, featuring Tesla equipment and domestic steel, includes four 80MW BESS units contracted with PacifiCorp for 20 years. Clearway states that achieving full ITC eligibility remains a consideration for the Puerto Rico project.