SolarMax Technologies, a California-based clean energy company, announced plans to deploy 400 MW / 1 GWh of battery energy storage systems (BESS) across three sites: one near Corpus Christi, Texas, and two in Puerto Rico.

The Puerto Rico projects include an 80 MW / 320 MWh BESS in Ceiba and a 20 MW / 80 MWh BESS in Humacao, each capable of providing four hours of power at maximum output. The Texas deployment is a 300 MW / 600 MWh system providing two hours of discharge.

The company indicated that these large-scale installations align with a broader strategic shift toward commercial projects, in part responding to declining residential solar sales in California following the expiration of the federal solar tax credit and changes in NEM 3.0 net metering policy.

SolarMax Technologies CEO David Hsu said the projects reflect growing demand for utility-scale energy storage and the company’s intention to become a “meaningful participant in a multi-billion-dollar market.”

In Puerto Rico, the deployments are expected to improve grid reliability and support clean energy expansion. Javier Rúa-Jovet, chief policy officer of the Solar and Energy Storage Association of Puerto Rico, noted that storage projects provide critical grid support on an island with ongoing reliability challenges and significant distributed solar and battery adoption.

Construction contracts are projected to span multiple years and involve hundreds of millions of dollars in engineering, procurement, and construction work. No operational dates were disclosed.

Source: utilitydive.com