The Daily Baseload Brief
ERCOT targets December for data center audit completion; Ørsted CEO says US portfolio was a net negative; Bulgaria adds 1 GW of BESS in a month. Power sector digest for 22 August 2026.
ERCOT confirmed at a 21 August PUCT commission meeting that it plans to complete Governor Abbott's data center audit by December, covering the 250-300 large energy consumers in the Batch Zero cohort. ERCOT is tracking more than 1,800 projects representing over 474 GW of interconnection requests - more than five times the grid's record peak demand. The audit, ordered on 3 August, requires each project to disclose tax incentives received, power use and generation plans, water and cooling operations, and community impact information before any interconnection can proceed. Projects already approved and under construction are not subject to the pause.
Ørsted CEO Rasmus Errboe said on 21 August that the company would have been better off without several key US offshore wind projects, as cumulative impairments from the US portfolio have now topped DKK 40 billion. Ørsted reported a DKK 1.2 billion non-cash impairment in its Q2 2026 results on 13 August, driven by higher long-dated US interest rates, while maintaining full-year EBITDA guidance above DKK 28 billion.
Bulgaria's battery energy storage capacity rose by 1 GW in a single month to 5.4 GW as of 17 August 2026, a 23% month-on-month increase, according to ENTSO-E data cited by Bulgarian business publication Capital.bg. The rapid expansion is attributed largely to deadlines under the country's Recovery Plan and RESTORE programmes.
Capital Dynamics acquired a ready-to-build 170 MW / 680 MWh four-hour BESS at Knockanure, County Kerry on 21 August - its first investment in the Republic of Ireland and one of the first projects EirGrid will clear under its new connection framework.
Seoul-based DeltaX announced a $141 million, 100,000 sq ft BESS assembly facility at Piedmont Regional Industrial Park in Monroe, Georgia, expected to create roughly 250 jobs. The plant adds to a wave of US battery manufacturing announcements following LG Energy Solution's 35 GWh Lansing facility, which began production on 18 August.
Bloom Energy launched its Power Connect platform on 21 August, claiming more than 40% faster on-site power installation for data centers by shifting electrical integration from job sites to its US factories.
US Census Bureau data show heat pumps equipped 53% of new apartment buildings in 2025, up from 46% in 2024 - the first time multifamily construction has crossed the majority threshold, according to data published on 21 August.
Latin America's energy storage market remains concentrated in demonstration projects and small-scale grid-support applications, with a large-scale market yet to take shape[1].
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