Enel powers up Azure Sky wind-storage complex in Texas

The US renewables subsidiary of Italian utility Enel SpA (BIT:ENEL) has energised its Azure Sky wind and energy storage complex in Texas and added batteries at two other of its sites in the state.

Located in Throckmorton County, the hybrid park is Enel Green Power’s first large-scale hybrid wind project globally, the company said on Wednesday. The power complex consists of a 350-MW wind farm with an expected annual electricity output of 1.3 TWh and 137 MW/205 MWh of battery storage capacity.

Azure Sky will be run through an aggregated power purchase agreement (PPA) with cloud service company Akamai, MilliporeSigma, the life science business of Germany’s Merck KGaA, electronic design automation company Synopsys and mobility as a service provider Uber Technologies. Separately, food producer Kellogg Company, dairy firm HP Hood and athletic apparel retailer Lululemon also have off-take contracts for some of the wind farm’s output.

Meanwhile in Texas, Enel has installed a grid-connected battery system at the site of its 497-MW Roadrunner solar park, which went live in the state’s Upton County in 2020. The company has also coupled with batteries its 500-MW High Lonesome wind farm cluster in Upton and Crockett counties. Each site is equipped with 7 MW/86 MWh of storage to support grid reliability.

Enel said it plans to deploy 6.5 GW of fresh renewable power capacity and 2,600 MWh of batteries across the US and Canada by the end of 2024. The company’s plan envisages having 12 battery facilities in Texas with more than 1,290 MWh of storage capacity by early 2023.

Choose your newsletter by Renewables Now. Join for free!