Tesla Megapacks are now helping support the Texas grid at Ørsted’s new 250 MW/500 MWh Old 300 battery storage project.
Old 300 Storage in Needville, southwest of Houston, is fully connected to the ERCOT grid. At full output, the battery energy storage system (BESS) can deliver 250 MW of power for two hours.
The Megapacks were built at Tesla’s Megafactory in Lathrop, California, the largest industrial utility-scale BESS factory in the US.
Each Tesla Megapack arrives with battery modules, inverters, thermal management, and controls integrated into one unit. That reduces the amount of equipment that needs to be assembled on-site. Tesla’s current two-hour Megapack configuration provides about 1.9 MW of power and 3.85 MWh of storage per unit.
Megapacks can charge when electricity is plentiful and discharge when the grid needs more power. They can also provide grid services that help manage voltage and frequency – important in Texas, where demand is climbing, and extreme weather can sharply tighten the balance between electricity supply and use.
Old 300 Storage sits next to Ørsted’s 430 MW Old 300 Solar, but the BESS and the solar farm operate independently. The battery isn’t limited to storing electricity generated by the solar farm; it can charge from and discharge to the wider ERCOT grid.
Old 300 Solar has been operating since 2024 and generating enough power annually to serve around 80,000 Texas homes and businesses, according to Ørsted. Together, the solar and battery projects are expected to generate around $110 million in property tax revenue for local schools, infrastructure, and emergency services.
“Battery energy storage has played a large role in providing much-needed power to ERCOT in times of tight supply and demand margins,” said Melissa Peterson, president of Ørsted Americas Onshore.
The project adds another 500 MWh deployment to Tesla’s growing stationary storage business and expands Ørsted’s operating US onshore portfolio to around 6 GW. Tesla says it has more than 58 GWh of industrial storage systems operating in over 65 countries.
Read more: Ørsted’s largest solar farm in the world is now online in Texas
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