CPS Energy, a major municipally-owned utility in Texas, has announced a promising collaboration with South Korean firms LG Energy Solution and OCI Holdings for an ambitious energy storage system initiative. The agreement, formalized in a memorandum of understanding, positions OCI Energy, a subsidiary of OCI Holdings, to procure energy storage system (ESS) batteries from LG Energy Solution.
The partnership focuses on the “Alamo City ESS LLC” project, which aims to harness solar energy generated during the day and sell it to CPS Energy. The project features a solar power plant currently being developed on a 35-acre site in southeastern Bexar County, Texas. When fully operational, the integrated system will comprise a 120MW solar photovoltaic setup paired with a 480MWh energy storage solution, capable of powering approximately 41,000 households for a day.
This collaboration comes at a crucial time, as Texas experiences a surge in power demand, notably from data centers, including major players like OpenAI and Oracle. The demand for electricity is projected to increase significantly, especially with forecasts suggesting that power consumption by U.S. AI data centers could rise up to 21-fold by 2030, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Additionally, OCI is investing $265 million to establish a solar cell manufacturing plant in San Antonio to bolster its operations in the U.S., reinforcing its commitment to the region. “Going forward, we will further strengthen our collaboration with LG Energy Solution and CPS Energy to ensure a sustainable electricity supply through our North American ESS projects and address the intermittency of solar energy,” OCI stated.
This collaboration holds the potential not only to enhance energy efficiency in Texas but also to pave the way for sustainable energy practices that could benefit countless households in the years to come.