Market Signal: PJM's storage gap will not close from the queue
Equinor energized its fifth battery in four years while PJM operates just 596MW against ERCOT's 16.5GW.
Equinor brought Citrus Flatts online in Texas through its East Point Energy arm: 100MW and 200MWh, fully merchant in ERCOT, and its fifth battery into commercial production in four years. Four more are under construction in Virginia, 80MW and 160MWh combined, targeting 2027 COD in PJM.
The signal Virginia now mandates 20.78GW of storage across Dominion Energy and Appalachian Power, while PJM's transition cycle runs close to two years at an average $206/kW for batteries. Nobody closes that gap from a queue position, and Equinor is not trying to.
Hiring Equinor calls this East Point's progression from developer to independent power producer. A developer sells the asset and an IPP keeps it, which means Asset Managers, Commercial Operations Leads, and Merchant Traders who can run a two-hour ERCOT battery and a Regulation-led PJM stack.