German company to store wind energy in batteries in Texas

March 3 (UPI) -- A German energy company with wind energy assets in the United States said it wanted to establish itself as a leader in efforts to store energy from renewables.

E.ON, one of the largest utility companies in the world, said it was building batteries in Texas that have the ability to store 20 megawatts of power.

"The Texas Waves energy storage projects will be located at E.ON's existing wind parks in Pyron and Inadale in the west of the state," the company said in a statement. "By the end of 2017, each of the two large-scale storage solutions should be providing 9.9 MW of energy to the grid."

Combined, E.ON has at least 3 gigawatts of power installed in North America and claims a leadership position in the region in onshore wind farms. Almost half of that capacity is in the United States. The typical onshore wind turbine can generate around 2.5 megawatts of power, enough to meet the demands of at least 1,000 average households.

E.ON started operations at the Colbeck's Corner wind farm in Amarillo, Texas, its 20th wind farm in the United States, in August.

Texas is the No. 1 oil producer in the nation, but is among the state leaders in new installations of wind capacity. The German energy company said wind farms are becoming more cost-competitive, with the budget for the Texas projects coming below what similar projects cost in 2009.

The German company said the Texas battery storage system could offset fluctuations across the grid and ensure reliability of supplies.

"E.ON aims to establish itself within the Texan energy storage market through this venture," the company said.