Eos announces 1.5 GWh of zinc battery storage in Texas, California

This summer, we’ve seen developments in non-lithium-ion battery chemistries – including a forecast where lithium-iron-phosphate becomes the predominant chemistry and millions in funding is used to commercialize metal hydrogen batteries. Now, zinc hybrid cathode technology is entering the mix, with Eos Energy Storage announcing orders for more than 1.5 GWh of projects.

As part of the Texas battery boom, EOS has entered into an agreement to supply 1 GWh of standalone battery energy storage systems to International Electric Power, in projects connected to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) grid.

Under the terms of the agreement, Eos will manufacture, design and deliver multiple battery energy storage projects to the grid from the third quarter of 2021. Since the agreement is in its infancy, the final number of projects and their locations have not been decided upon yet, though it does appear that these will be standalone storage projects. Eos will also be providing operations and maintenance services across the 20-year lifespans of the projects.

Golden State storage

The fun doesn’t stop in Texas, however, as Eos has also entered into an agreement with Carson Hybrid Energy Storage (CHES) to supply the company with 500 MWh of battery energy storage systems for the California power grid.

According to Eos, the long-duration battery solutions will be used “in parallel with existing power generation and substation architecture to store renewable energy generated capacity, and to provide power quality and better resilience.” This would imply that, unlike the Texas projects, these installations may be paired with generation stations, like solar facilities. A recent Berkeley Labs presentation showed the California Independent System Operator solar queue having a battery attachment rate for solar projects of 67%.

Outside of announcing massive new project developments, Eos has a pretty large internal development going on alongside. In June, the company filed a letter of intent for a business combination transaction with B. Riley Principal Merger Corp. II, one of which would result in Eos becoming a public company. The two companies expect the execution of a definitive agreement for the business combination imminently, at which point the potential business combination is expected to be completed during the fourth quarter of this year.