Orsted has brought its Old 300 Storage battery project online in Needville, Texas, adding 250 MW and 500 MWh of capacity to the ERCOT power grid. The project is the company's 12th in Texas and adds to a U.S. onshore portfolio that now totals 6 GW of operating capacity.

A battery energy storage system, or BESS, charges from the grid or from nearby generation and discharges that stored power back out later, typically when demand or prices run high. Old 300 Storage performs that role for ERCOT.

A battery plant next to a solar farm

Old 300 Storage is co-located with Old 300 Solar, a 430 MW project that has supplied power to roughly 80,000 homes and businesses in Texas since 2024, when it was one of the largest solar projects to come online in the country that year. The battery plant is operated independently from the solar project rather than as a single paired system. Combined, the solar and storage projects will generate about $110 million in property tax revenue that will support local infrastructure, schools, and emergency services.

Melissa Peterson, president of Orsted Americas Onshore, said battery storage has "played a large role in providing much needed power to ERCOT" during periods when supply and demand run close together. She said commercial operations at Old 300 Storage would give Texas grid operators added resources and more localized energy options as electricity demand keeps rising.

Where the batteries come from

Orsted bought the battery equipment for the project from Tesla. The Megapacks installed at Old 300 Storage were built at Tesla's Megafactory in Lathrop, California, which the companies describe as the largest industrial energy storage manufacturing facility in the U.S. The same battery units have been deployed across Texas, elsewhere in the U.S., and in more than 65 countries. Ahead of startup, Orsted and Tesla worked with the Needville Fire Department to brief local responders on the technology and on safety response procedures for the site.

The numbers

  • Capacity: 250 MW / 500 MWh
  • Co-located solar project: Old 300 Solar, 430 MW
  • Homes and businesses served by the solar project since 2024: about 80,000
  • Combined property tax revenue from both projects: about $110 million
  • Orsted's operating U.S. onshore portfolio: 6 GW
  • Countries where Tesla's Megapack units have been deployed: more than 65

Old 300 Storage is Orsted's 12th project in Texas.