Dive Brief:

• A Texas microgrid developer previously focused on projects at water treatment facilities wants to scale up its gas-fueled systems, working to lower costs by standardizing components.
• Texas Microgrid, a joint venture of Enchanted Rock and UK's Balfour Beatty Infrastructure Partners (BBIP), will work to construct 45 microgrids in the Houston area, where ERock is based.
• Greentech Media profiles the microgrid developer and details a new pricing structure that will keep costs low by relying on revenue from ERCOT.

Dive Insight:

The keen interest in Texas for C&I micogrids appear to follow a larger trend of developers eyeing such projects, Greentech Media notes. 

BBIP has invested an undisclosed amount into the partnership, according to Infrastructure Investors, but the partnership with ERock will develop about 50 MW of microgrids using the company's fifth generation microgrid systems, which primarily rely on natural gas as a fuel.

ERock founding partner and Managing Director Thomas McAndrew told GTM the company largely sees solar as a "range extender." 

While the company's history has been more focused on diesel generation, “we’ve been looking at natural gas as long as the company has existed," he said. "Natural gas engines had not been very reliable when it comes to what our customers demand.”

The company has also avoided developing combined heat and power systems, due to their site-specific requirements. “CHP is always custom,” McAndrew said. “It’s one of the reasons we stay away from it.” Instead, the company will look to standardize components to reduce costs and development time.

Financing of systems requires a smaller-than-usual upfront payment from the customer. Texas Microgrid will own and operate the system, recouping other costs by participating in the ERCOT market.

Enchanted Rock has previously developed 225 MW of distributed generation more than two dozen sites in Texas. A list of the company's projects can be found here.