SK Group of Companies and Apex Clean Energy form energy storage joint venture

In a landmark development for the U.S. energy storage industry, Apex Clean Energy signed an agreement and formed a joint venture last week with South Korean company SK Gas and SK D&D, part of the SK Group. The venture has been named SA Grid Solutions. The initiative aims to increase the ownership and operation of energy storage facilities across the United States.

The joint venture, which is structured with 60 per cent funding from SK and 40 per cent from Apex Clean Energy, will be responsible for the construction, operation and optimisation of new energy storage projects being launched by the two companies. These projects include Great Kiskadee Storage, a grid-scale battery energy storage system (BESS) being constructed in Hidalgo, Texas. The facility will begin commercial operations this year and will provide 100MW of two-hour supply/consumption load to the Texas ERCOT grid.

Ken Young, CEO of Apex Clean Energy, emphasised the importance of this partnership, noting that Apex has 13GW of BESS projects across the US. He emphasised that the partnership with SK Gas and SK D&D is critical to fast-tracking the deployment of these projects. In addition to energy storage, Apex is involved in utility-scale wind, solar PV, distributed generation and green fuels, and offers a full suite of sustainable energy solutions.

The formation of this joint venture marks a strategic synergy between international and local expertise and is expected to provide a stronger foundation for accelerated growth and innovation in energy storage in the United States.