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🌐 This week in Supercool: Deployed

Author

Josh Dorfman
March 06, 2026

This is Deployed — Supercool's weekly newsletter tracking where the low-carbon economy is scaling up.

If it isn't operational, it isn't Deployed.

This week: Maine connected the largest battery on the New England grid. The UK switched on its first geothermal power plant — the same underground resource that generates the electricity also yields lithium. ENGIE commissioned its largest solar complex anywhere, 753 MW in Brazil. And on two continents, massive grid batteries hit commercial operation — built not just to shift energy, but to keep grids stable when they wobble.

DEPLOYED

What went operational this past week.

Plus Power’s Cross Town Energy Storage is now operating in Gorham, Maine. It’s a grid-scale battery (175 MW / 350 MWh) built to charge when electricity is plentiful and discharge when demand spikes — the basic mechanism behind how storage lowers peak stress on the grid.

United Downs in Cornwall is now generating geothermal electricity by circulating water through deep wells drilled into hot granite. The twist: the same mineral-rich fluids can be processed for lithium — making this a rare project where new power and a critical mineral supply chain come from the same source.

ENGIE brought the Assú Sol complex online in Brazil: 16 solar plants totaling 753 MW, spanning 5,800 acres and using over 1.5 million solar panels. Engie utilized several technological advancements during construction, including drone-based aerial mapping, automated graders using three-dimensional models, and an automatic pile-driving machine.

EDF’s Koruson 1 wind farms reached commercial operation in South Africa, supplying 420 MW — equivalent to the annual electricity needs of 579,000 households. The project includes the largest privately built main transmission substation in the country. Sized to connect up to 1.5 GW of renewables, it adds the missing piece that projects usually wait on: a place to plug in.

Two Massive Batteries Went Live — One in China, One in Canada
Grid | Storage

A battery plant in Ordos, China reached commercial operation at 300 MW / 1,200 MWh. It’s built to steady the grid during disturbances, smooth out fluctuations, and help restart power after outages.

In Ontario, the Hagersville battery system also reached commercial operation at 300 MW / 1,200 MWh, now the largest operating battery facility in Canada. It was co-developed with Six Nations of the Grand River using an ownership model that brings local participation into the economics, not just the construction.

In Argentina, a Wind Farm Now Powers a Cement Factory
Energy | Wind | Industrial Decarbonization

YPF Luz inaugurated the CASA wind farm (63 MW) at Cementos Avellaneda’s site in Olavarría. Part of the project supplies the cement plant directly; the rest is sold to other industrial customers,  a pragmatic structure for decarbonizing heavy industry.

Tata Steel Deploys a Heat Battery that Runs on Waste Heat
Industry | Industrial Heat | Thermal Storage

Tata Steel and German startup Kraftblock are running what's likely the first thermal energy storage system in the global steel industry at Jamshedpur, India. The 20 MWh system captures waste heat from sintering, stores it at up to 500°C, and feeds it back to replace fossil gas. Projected result: 22,000 metric tons of CO2 and 110 GWh of fossil gas eliminated annually.

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This week’s Supercool sponsor

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The first session is on March 19th, 12 to 1 pm CT. 

Host: Rob Tanner, Director at Johnson Controls, who has spent two decades reimagining the performance of buildings to serve people, places, and the planet.

Guest: Josh Brackett from Banner Health, where he leads compliance across operations, design, and construction for all healthcare facilities.

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SUPERCOOL ECOSYSTEM

Operational updates from companies we’ve featured.

Brenmiller Delivers Commercial-Scale Heat Battery
Industry | Industrial Heat | Thermal Storage

Brenmiller (episode 28) completed construction of a 32 MWh bGen thermal energy storage system for Tempo Beverages, which bottles PepsiCo and Heineken products. It's the company's first large-scale deployment designed to replace 100% of on-site fossil boiler steam production, not just supplement it.

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HORIZON

Not yet deployed, but we’re tracking.

Westlands Water District's board has approved the Valley Clean Infrastructure Plan — up to 21 GW of solar at full buildout across 200 square miles of San Joaquin Valley farmland. The land is being retired under groundwater pumping limits. When water scarcity forces agricultural land out of production at scale, energy developers move in.

What we’re watching: whether CAISO approves the new high-voltage transmission lines needed to move power from the valley to LA and Silicon Valley.

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If you see something go live — opened, launched, commissioned, connected, shipped — hit reply and send it my way.

Deployed stays selective about what’s really moving the needle, and tips make it smarter.

Josh

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