A large new battery has come online in Texas, and it's built with Tesla hardware. Ørsted, the energy company, just connected a 250 megawatt battery storage project called Old 300 Storage to the state's power grid (ERCOT), near Needville southwest of Houston. At full power, it can supply 250 megawatts for two hours before needing to recharge, using Tesla's Megapack units, which come pre-built with batteries, inverters, and cooling systems all in one package.
This isn't a home battery story, but it does affect grid reliability where you live if you're in Texas. Batteries like this one charge up when electricity is cheap or plentiful and discharge when the grid is strained, which helps during extreme heat or cold when demand spikes. The battery sits next to Ørsted's Old 300 Solar farm, which has been running since 2024 and generates enough power for about 80,000 homes and businesses, but the two operate independently. The battery can pull from and send power to the wider grid, not just the solar farm.
Together, the solar and battery projects are expected to bring in around $110 million in property tax revenue for local schools and services. The addition also grows Ørsted's US onshore energy portfolio to about 6 gigawatts, and adds to Tesla's fast-growing business supplying grid-scale batteries.
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