Goodpeak CEO discusses energy storage platform launch; expected debt raise
Goodpeak recently launched its platform with an initial focus on developing, building, owning, and operating “surgical-scale” distribution-scale batteries. Its initial advanced-staged portfolio is in ERCOT, while it is expanding nationwide development of both smaller and larger utility-scale storage opportunities.
The company was recently established by Trent Kososki, former managing director at Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners and Hayden Stanley, founder of EPC provider Trilogy. John Marciano, former Head of Energy at Allen & Overy, is a strategic investor and chairs the board. Mark Klein, Co-Founder and Former CDO of Broad Reach Power is also a strategic investor and board member. The company is backed by several investors including leading founders, executives, investors, and family offices in both the energy and renewables industry.
“At GoodPeak, we are big believers that the grid needs a giant, distributed portfolio of energy storage shock-absorbers to balance and ‘firm up’ intermittent renewables and disproportionate load growth,” said Kososki, in an interview with NPM.
"Deploying strategically-located distributed energy storage on the power grid is akin to performing surgery on congestion,” he said. “Just as a skilled surgeon precisely targets the source of ailment, distributed energy storage strategically alleviates grid congestion, delivering a healthy flow of power where it's needed most, ensuring smooth and uninterrupted energy circulation."
GoodPeak’s initial acquisition consisted of a large capacity portfolio of distribution-level storage assets in ERCOT. GoodPeak acquired the assets bilaterally in November 2023 from PearlX, a portfolio company of Antin Infrastructure.
The portfolio consists of 10 sites with 100 MWs centered predominantly around Houston. The company expects to raise construction debt in the next several months with construction of the first assets commencing shortly thereafter.
GoodPeak’s “Texas Tens” require small generation interconnection agreement (SGIA) and have quicker lead-times than larger grid-scale batteries. The lower execution risk has resulted in the likes of Available Power and SMT Energy developing portfolios around this concept.
According to its website, GoodPeak has a pipeline with 500 MWs of solar and 1,200 MWs of storage in California and is actively partnering on a multi-GW pipeline of projects across the United States.
Second-Life Batteries
While Goodpeak’s strategy begins with conventional lithium-ion batteries for its projects, beyond initial deployments, the company is in discussions to integrate second-life batteries over time in its follow-on portfolios.
"U.S. second-life battery volumes are projected to reach 40 GWh annually by 2030," Kososki noted. "Repurposing and redeploying EV batteries fosters a circular economy, promotes affordable clean energy, and mitigates reliance on foreign mineral extraction and environmental impact by slashing the life-cycle emissions of lithium-ion batteries."
When EV battery reaches the end of its useful life, there are three options: disposal, recycling, or re-use. But these batteries still retain an estimated 80% usable capacity. Goodpeak believes it is premature to dispose or recycle these batteries – instead, these batteries can be redeployed to less-demanding applications such as stationary energy storage.
"We see second-life batteries as an important opportunity to maximize the life-cycle energy harvest of battery systems, capitalize on significant capex advantages, and bolster national energy security,” he said. “Addressing the climate crisis requires a comprehensive ‘all-of-the-above’ strategy, and discarding or recycling batteries prematurely is both wasteful and inefficient. Leveraging our proprietary industry relationships, GoodPeak aims to play a leadership role in the scaled redeployment of second-life batteries.”
*This story was originally published exclusively for NPM subscribers in April.
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