Episode description

Battery revenues in ERCOT in June 2024 were 85% lower than June 2023, with average earnings of $45/kW (annualized), compared with when batteries earned a massive $309/kW/year in 2023.

With the summer months historically providing the bulk of high revenue days for battery energy storage, operators would expect the sixth hottest summer on record to provide a similar picture, but that has not been the case in 2024. Increased competition in Ancillary Services, a boom in renewables buildout and changes to strategic operations have resulted in a very different picture.

In this episode, Brandt Vermillion, ERCOT Market Lead at Modo Energy joins Quentin to give us insight into what has been driving battery revenues in ERCOT over the summer months.

Over the conversation, they discuss:

• Recent buildout of storage and solar PV in ERCOT.
• The historical significance of the summer months on battery revenues, and why this has changed in 2024.
• Insight into the competitive nature of the market and saturation of ancillary services.
• Introduction to DART (Day Ahead Real Time) trading as a new strategy for capturing revenue.
• The emergence of tolling agreements as a response to revenue volatility.

About Modo Energy

Modo Energy provides forecasts, benchmarking, data, and insights for new energy assets - all in one place. Built for analysts, Modo helps the owners, operators, builders, and financiers of battery energy storage solutions understand the market - and make the most out of their assets.

All of our podcasts are available to watch or listen to on the Modo Energy site. To keep up with all of our latest updates, research, analysis, videos, podcasts, data visualizations, live events, and more, follow us on Linkedin or Twitter. Check out The Energy Academy, our video series of bite-sized chunks explaining how different battery energy storage systems work. For more information on ERCOT, check out our written research.