Massachusetts’s First Big Energy Storage Tender Dishes Out 1.3 GW Of Contracts

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Massachusetts has to reach 5 gigawatts (GW) of energy storage capacity by 2030, per legislation passed by state lawmakers.

To get going toward that target, the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) has conducted its first large-scale energy storage tender. In that tender, it awarded 1.268 GW (1,268 megawatts) of contracts across four energy storage projects.

“The winning projects include Jupiter Power’s Trimount ESS, set to be situated at a former 100-year-old Exxon oil terminal in Everett,” pv magazine shares. “The fossil fuel legacy infrastructure will become a wider hub for clean energy, and in doing so, the project is expected to defer some $2.2 billion in regional transmission upgrades.”

“Elsewhere, FlatIron Energy secured two slots in the tender with its Energizar project in Somerset and the Salt Cod development in Chelsea. Rounding out the selection is Rhynland Energy’s River Mill Storage in Tyngsborough,” ESS News adds. “The selected bidders will now enter formal contract negotiations with the state’s primary electric distribution companie which include Eversource, National Grid, and Unitil, aiming to secure financial support and certainty to bring the projects online.”

If you’re upset because you’d like to know the actual energy storage capacity (not power storage capacity) of these projects, join the party — the GWh figure was not revealed. However, the tender required at least 4 hours of energy storage duration, so that would imply at least 5,072 MWh of energy storage capacity.

Overall, 13 bids were made in this tender. Officials indicated these were high-quality bids. The maximum total allotment, though, was 1.5 GW. Expect another good tender in 2026.

As renewable energy — solar and wind energy — grow rapidly across the country (and the world), energy storage helps to maximize their use and cut costs for consumers. Leadership from states like Massachusetts will help to enable and integrate more and more renewables in the coming years.