Equinor brings its biggest US battery online in Texas

In Harlingen, Cameron County, the switch is now on: Equinor’s Citrus Flatts Energy Center has entered operation as the company’s largest US battery storage project to date. Built and operated by East Point Energy, Equinor’s wholly owned US battery storage subsidiary, it adds 100 MW/200 MWh to South Texas’s fast-growing grid.

Citrus Flatts will make its money in ERCOT, Texas’s power market, on a fully merchant basis. It will buy and store electricity when prices are low, sell it when prices rise, and provide grid services, without a traditional long-term utility contract. Danske Commodities, Equinor’s energy-trading subsidiary, will handle market operations and portfolio optimization.

This is East Point’s second battery to reach commercial operation. The first was the 10 MW/20 MWh Sunset Ridge Energy Center in Frio County, which came online last year. Together, Equinor says, the two projects can supply enough electricity to power around 30,000 Texas homes for up to two hours.

The timing reflects the speed of Texas’s buildout. The US Energy Information Administration expects utility-scale solar to generate 78 billion kilowatt-hours in 2026 in ERCOT, beating coal for the first time. It also forecasts ERCOT battery capacity will grow from around 15 GW in 2025 to 37 GW by the end of 2027.

Concretely, Texas gets a 100 MW flexible asset that can move electricity across price swings and support the grid, while East Point says the project will generate millions in tax revenue for local priorities. East Point CEO Andrew Foukal said the project would strengthen the electrical grid and help keep energy costs affordable for families and businesses. The project’s revenues, however, depend on its merchant market model rather than a traditional long-term utility contract.

Equinor’s next US projects are already under construction in Virginia: four batteries totaling 80 MW/160 MWh, expected to come online in the PJM power market in early 2027.