From May 20th to 26th (inclusive), we’ve provisionally estimated battery energy storage revenues of $478/MW/day. This is equivalent to around $175,000/MW, annualized.
From next week, these provisional revenue estimates will be available to subscribers only.
To see battery energy storage revenues for the entirety of the last 60 days, check out our real-time Battery Energy Storage Benchmark.
Grid conditions and battery energy storage output
Heading into Memorial Day weekend, extreme temperatures across Texas were expected to cause record power demand for May.
Demand was forecasted to hit 75 GW - a record for May - on Friday 24th, and Sunday 26th. With low forecasted wind generation (< 10 GW) across the evening peaks, ERCOT expected scarcity conditions during these periods.
This led to high Day-Ahead Energy prices, which peaked at $654 and $1,518/MWh - on the 24th and 26th, respectively.
However, these anticipated scarcity conditions never materialized - and Real-Time prices stayed relatively low. In the end, demand peaked at just under 74 GW.
On the evenings of the 24th and 26th, prices didn’t get above $140/MWh in the Real-Time Market -despite record-setting demand on both evenings.
Real-Time prices actually peaked at $445/MWh during the evening of May 21st, following a 586 MW unit trip.
With less volatile prices in Real-Time, net output from battery energy storage systems rarely exceeded 1,000 MW throughout the week.
Net output peaked during the net load ramp on May 24th, with batteries providing an average of 1,340 MW between 8:00 and 8:15pm.
Revenue opportunities for batteries
In terms of revenue opportunities, average daily Day-Ahead price spreads across the week were $346/MWh. However, these spreads far outpaced the average daily Real-Time price spreads, which ultimately came in at only $86/MWh.