US renewables developers snap up grid-ready sites to beat congestion

New entrants face lengthy applications and obligation to invest in system

Texas-based Talen Energy plans to deploy 1GW of grid-scale battery capacity over the next five years and is kicking off that development pipeline with a 20MW installation at the site of a soon-to-be retired coal plant outside of Baltimore, Maryland. But Talen will face few if any hurdles getting its power to the grid because the site of the H.A. Wagner generating station already possesses the necessary infrastructure and interconnection permits to utilise the battery as a form of electricity supply. Talen is undertaking a similar project at a New Jersey natural gas plant in Camden. The strategy to locate new renewable power generation on, or near, existing power assets is a new trend in the