Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed Home Invoice 3809 into legislation on Could 29, mandating that every one battery power storage techniques (BESS) amenities be decommissioned on the finish of their lifecycle. This legislation, which takes impact on September 1, applies to each standalone BESS amenities and people co-located with photo voltaic and wind energy crops, and requires builders to signal a non-waiver clause forbidding any contractual modifications.
(A considerably comparable invoice, SB 1150, was despatched by the Texas legislator to Abbott’s desk requiring oil and fuel corporations to plug deserted wells after 15 years, although that invoice offers extra alternatives for flexibility and extensions for the fossil gasoline corporations.)
Fundamentals of HB 3809
HB 3809 could be very particular concerning its meant targets. The primary provisions of the legislation are:
- Obligatory decommissioning of BESS amenities at their finish of lifecycle: This course of consists of the elimination of buried cables, transformers and inverters, and all foundations must be dug a minimum of three ft deeper than the unique construction to make sure correct web site restoration.
- Landowners’ proper to request further rehabilitation measures: Landowners can request that the house owners of the BESS gear undertake further work reminiscent of eradicating inside roads, reseeding land with native crops and rehabilitating the land to agriculture requirements.
- BESS builders should present monetary assurance for decommissioning measures: Initiatives house owners will seek the advice of with a third-party engineer to offer a complete price for decommissioning, each earlier than the beginning of the challenge and yearly till the termination of the lease or the fifteenth 12 months of the BESS.
Texas’ power actuality
Texas ranks first within the U.S. in complete wind energy manufacturing, and second nationally for photo voltaic capability. In 2024, wind and photo voltaic produced virtually 30 p.c of the state’s complete power, whereas coal produced round 11 p.c. Gasoline is the biggest supply of power throughout the state, accounting for greater than half of all electrical energy manufacturing in 2024.
Notorious for an unreliable grid that fails in excessive climate, Texas photo voltaic power and battery storage offered grid stability through the peak of summer time 2024, producing 25 p.c of energy wants throughout mid-day hours between June 1 and August 31, in line with the Electrical Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT).
To retailer renewable power, as of 2024 Texas constructed 6,500 megawatts of utility-scale battery capability, in line with the Vitality Data Administration.
Financial influence on battery storage
What does HB 3809 in the end imply for the the way forward for Texas’ battery storage trade?
“Its burden falls heaviest on lithium-based storage,” mentioned J. Goldsbury, VP of technique and growth at Renuvi Vitality, including that HB 3809 “is greater than only a regulatory shift – it’s a market sign.”
Goldsbury defined that builders utilizing lithium-based batteries — probably the most broadly accessible and market-ready kind of battery — will face larger upfront prices because of HB 3809. And any cash probably recouped by promoting or recycling the decommissioned lithium is way from sure.
“Lithium markets are risky, and restoration economics are removed from predictable,” defined Goldsbury. “Present recycling initiatives are expensive and logistically complicated with a restricted variety of corporations at the moment accessible within the U.S.”
“It may make it tougher for corporations to maintain there initiatives financially viable,” agreed James Allsopp, CEO of iNet Ventures, a PR company that works carefully with battery storage corporations.
However there are some optimistic ramifications of the legislation.
“We see this legislation as a long-overdue recognition of what Renuvi has recognized from the beginning: not all battery techniques are created equal and infrastructure-based deployments that help the facility grid ought to be designed with typical grid lifecycles in thoughts,” mentioned Goldsbury.
The legislation incentivizes continued battery storage innovation that may ultimately lower waste from the expertise. “It encourages eco-friendly practices and cautious disposal,” mentioned Allsopp.
In fact, a big portion of federal funding to pay for this innovation is up within the air because the Senate continues to edit the Home’s reconciliation invoice.
