Canadian Solar subsidiary e-STORAGE is supplying a 75-MW/381-MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) to be installed alongside Apex Clean Energy‘s 150-MW Coldwater Solar project being developed in Branch County, Michigan.
e-STORAGE will deliver a BESS that combines SolBank 3.0 battery blocks with power conversion systems and e-STORAGE’s proprietary EQ‑S Energy Management System into one coordinated utility‑scale platform. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in early 2027, with commercial operation targeted for mid-2027. SolBank is a battery pack powered by lithium-Ion phosphate-based battery cells, all produced at Canadian Solar’s manufacturing facilities.
“Power demand is rising rapidly, and storage projects like Coldwater enable our grid to keep pace,” said Ken Young, CEO of Apex. “e-STORAGE has the technology and the scale to deliver this project, and we’re glad to be working once again with our partners at Canadian Solar.”
Michigan law requires utilities to bring 2.5 GW of energy storage online by 2030, and the state’s largest coal units are slated to retire through 2032, removing dispatchable capacity from the MISO grid that storage can replace. Once operational, Coldwater’s storage element will store energy and discharge it when demand peaks.
“Michigan is rebuilding its power generation mix on a fixed timeline, and this collaboration shows how that target turns into reliable capacity on the ground,” said Jeff Roy, president of e-STORAGE. “By supplying the batteries, power conversion, and our EQ-S controls as one integrated system, we serve as Apex’s single accountable technology partner across the project’s lifecycle.”
News item from Canadian Solar
