Ørsted has agreed a strategic partnership with Mission Clean Energy, a utility-scale renewable energy and storage developer in the USA, to advance four standalone battery energy storage systems across the Midwest. The partnership with Mission is expected to complement Ørsted’s existing development efforts while broadening and diversifying the portfolio of technologies it can offer.
Mission aims to exploit what it sees as Ørsted’s extensive operational leadership and resources to bring these projects to fruition. Ørsted will utilise its capital to secure and maintain interconnection queue positions for the four storage projects owned by Mission, while Mission will continue to lead development of the projects.
Mission and Ørsted submitted interconnection applications for the projects, totalling 1 GW, in the Mid-Continent Independent System Operator (MISO) Central and North. Ørsted will have the option to acquire an ownership stake in the projects as they mature.
The Midwest region is experiencing a transformative shift in its supply mix, driven by a significant increase in non-emitting generation resources. The four projects are strategically sited to meet capacity requirements and manage increasing grid volatility, with a strong emphasis on the locational benefits that they will provide.
This agreement creates access to assets that add to Ørsted’s development pipeline, bolstering its strategic focus on increasing storage along with wind and solar and providing integrated solutions. It is also Ørsted’s first standalone battery storage partnership globally and adds to its existing portfolio of nearly 6 GW of renewable energy projects in operation or under construction in the USA which includes the 40 MW storage project at Permian Solar Center in West Texas and the 300 MW/1200 MWh storage project at Eleven Mile Solar Center in Arizona. The storage project at Eleven Mile Solar is one of the largest built in a single phase in the USA.
