CPS Energy cooperates with South Korea's OCI, LG
The Texas-based CPS Energy announced plans to cooperate with South Korea's LG and OCI Energy. File Photo by James Atoa/UPI | License Photo
SEOUL, May 27 (UPI) -- Texas-based CPS Energy plans to team up with two South Korean companies to collaborate on a large-sized energy storage system project.
OCI Holdings announced Tuesday that its U.S. subsidiary, OCI Energy, signed a three-party memorandum of understanding with CPS Energy and LG Energy Solution.
Under the agreement, OCI Energy is set to secure ESS batteries from LG Energy Solution. With them, it will store solar energy generated during the day and sell the electricity to CPS Energy.
As one of the largest municipally owned electric and natural gas utilities in the United States, CPS Energy serves around 1.28 million customers in Texas. LG Energy Solution is a global battery maker.
OCI expects that the first task for the three sides will be the "Alamo City ESS LLC" project, which is scheduled for completion by the end of next year.
To enable the project, a solar power plant is under construction on a 35-acre site in southeastern Bexar County, Texas.
OCI strives to integrate a 120MW solar photovoltaic system with a 480MWh ESS, which would be enough to meet power demand for roughly 41,000 households for a day.
As a separate investment aimed at expanding its U.S. business, OCI disclosed in March its plan to invest $265 million in building a solar cell manufacturing plant in San Antonio, Texas.
Texas faces mounting power demand from various customers like data centers. The state is a key location for data centers, including those run by OpenAI and Oracle. OCI Energy's head office is also located in Texas.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies predicted that power demand from U.S. AI data centers would surge 21 times between 2024 and 2030.
"Going forward, we will further strengthen our collaboration with LG Energy Solution and CPS Energy to ensure sustainable electricity supply through our North American ESS projects and address the intermittency of solar energy," OCI said in a statement.
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