The results of a three-month Google-sponsored battery storage pilot project in Texas have been released.

The pilot, undertaken by Quintrace, esVolta, and LevelTen Energy, sought to prove that batteries can store surplus renewable energy and deliver it during hours when fossil-fuel generation is higher, opening an environmental revenue stream for battery assets.

According to the companies, during the pilot, the batteries charged and discharged a total of 9.2GWh during the respective windows.

The project used hourly time-stamped Granular Certificates to allocate solar energy to grid-connected batteries and shifted it to hours when Google's energy consumption exceeded its renewable supply. The companies said this process incentivizes battery dispatch to improve carbon-free energy matching.

According to the partners, the pilot was designed to demonstrate the model's feasibility, offering a new commercial pathway for battery storage developers and a tracking pathway that accurately accounts for and retires the hourly certificates behind it.

As part of the pilot, Google contracted with the battery operators to time-shift environmental attributes it already owned, without tolling the batteries or assuming any merchant or dispatch risk. According to the companies, the structure left operators in full control of their assets, allowing them to respond to energy price signals and grid emergencies.

esVolta contributed its Anole project (240MW/480MWh), located in Seagoville, Texas, and Burksol project (100MW/200MWh), located in Dickens County, Texas, to the pilot. Quintrace provided the software platform used to implement the verification, and LevelTen managed the registry accounts to prevent double-counting and also provided the transaction framework for the storage-shift agreements.

"Batteries are set to play an important role in how companies shape their sustainable energy strategies, not only in how the grid is balanced. This pilot shows storage can be reliably dispatched and credited to match clean energy to demand on a granular hourly basis, and that will shape those strategies and attract further investment into storage,” said Devin Hardman, chief commercial officer, esVolta.

"One of the most exciting parts of this pilot was introducing a new price signal and contracting structure to the utility-scale storage market. When delivered at scale, this can support the financing and construction of more batteries and provide operators an incentive to dispatch for the environmental outcomes their customers are asking for, not just the ones that energy markets pay for today," added Jason Tundermann, chief innovation officer, LevelTen Energy.

Google has backed several battery storage projects in recent years. Most recently, it made its first foray into the Long-Duration Energy Storage sector, partnering with CO2 battery manufacturer Energy Dome on a 23MW project in Rhode, Ireland.