Rocketing demand from new grid-scale solar and battery storage projects has seen the interconnection queue for the Texas energy system swell to 355.4GW.

The US state’s main grid operator, ERCOT, said that the two sources comprise 85 percent of energy generation projects waiting to be connected to the Texas power system. The figures were revealed in its monthly system report for June.

“Not all of these projects will likely be built, but it shows where market interest lies at this time,” ERCOT said in its report, which covers the period to the end of May.

In total, solar projects of 154.2GW are queued for connection, with 149GW battery storage and significant wind (33.9GW) and natural gas (15.9GW) projects. No new coal and nuclear schemes are awaiting connection.

Texas, particularly the area around Dallas Fort Worth (DFW), is one of the largest data center markets in the world. A report released earlier this year by Cushman & Wakefield showed that DFW alone is home to a data center capacity of 663.9MW, and this is set to rise rapidly in the coming years.

New projects announced in the state recently include a 300MW campus being built by Skybox in Dallas, and a 200MW campus in San Antonio being built by Stream Data Centers.

The proliferation of data centers in Texas has put strain on the state power grid, and more renewable projects are being brought online to deal with this increasing demand. Though its grid remains reliant on natural gas and coal, Texas brought more new solar energy projects online in 2023 than any other US state, adding 6.5GW of capacity according to a report from trade body the Solar Energy Industries Association.

ERCOT's report says that, in total, its network has more clean energy installed than any US power market, with 38.9GW of wind capacity, 22.2GW of large solar, and 5.3GW of battery storage available.

However, Texas is an area that could be at risk of power supply issues if extreme weather hits this summer.

A report from the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) said the grid had sufficient capacity to cope in normal circumstances, but that climate changes could see electricity supply shortfalls occur in the state in late afternoon and evening hours as solar output is diminished, but demand remains high.