The Consumers Energy battery deployments will be developed under Energy Vault’s B-VAULT suite of integrated battery energy storage solutions. Courtesy: Energy Vault

Michigan’s largest energy provider, Consumers Energy, has tapped global energy storage solutions company Energy Vault to supply two battery energy storage systems (BESS) that will help the utility manage increasing peak demand.

The BESS, totaling 75 MW/300 MWh (megawatts/megawatt-hours), will be deployed in Iosco and Bay Counties, which would be located in the crook of where your thumb touches your hand if you held it up and did that thing where you pretend it’s a Michigan state map. The batteries are expected to be delivered in Q4 of this year, construction is slated to start in Q1 2026, and commercial operations are targeted by Q4 2026.

The 45 MW/180 MWh Weadock BESS will be located at the site of the now-retired John C. Weadock Power Plant in Hampton Township, and the 30 MW/120 MWh Iosco County BESS will be in Oscoda Township. Both batteries will be charged and discharged on a daily basis, designed to dispatch stored renewable energy at peak consumption hours. Consumers Energy says that permitting efforts are actively underway in coordination with township officials to support project development.

“Battery storage will continue to play a larger role as Consumers Energy meets Michigan’s growing energy needs. We’re excited to collaborate with Energy Vault to bring these two projects to life in the communities we serve,” said Sri Maddipati, Consumers Energy’s president of electric supply.

The BESS deployments will be developed under Energy Vault’s B-VAULT suite of fully integrated battery energy storage solutions, and will leverage Energy Vault’s proprietary X-Vault integration platform and Vault-OS Energy Management System to control, manage, and optimize the BESS operations, allowing for enhanced energy management capabilities. Energy Vault says its innovative system architecture provides customer optionality with both battery and inverter suppliers, while unique AC-coupled and DC-coupled configurations provide the drop-in flexibility needed for any project.

“As the energy transition accelerates, utilities like Consumers Energy are stepping up to ensure grid reliability while integrating more renewable energy. We are proud to partner with Michigan’s largest energy provider on these critical projects, which will not only help meet peak demand with energy but also exemplify how advanced storage technologies can support grid resilience at scale,” said Marco Terruzzin, Chief Revenue Officer at Energy Vault. “This contract marks Energy Vault’s continued expansion across the US with a leading Midwest utility partner committed to delivering sustainable energy at scale—and it lays the foundation for a long-term strategic partnership focused on enabling a more resilient and sustainable energy future for Michigan and beyond.”

Energy Vault’s B-VAULT portfolio consists of more than 2 gigawatt-hours (GWh) in total projects, either deployed or currently in development. In December 2024, the company announced a strategic partnership with RackScale Data Centers (RSDC) that intends to accelerate the delivery of 2 GW of power to data center sites developed by RSDC via the deployment of Energy Vault’s B-Nest hyperscale BESS, targeting construction in 2026.

G-VAULT, Energy Vault’s family of gravity-based solutions, is also making strides. In May 2024, Energy Vault successfully tested and commissioned China’s Rudong EVx gravity energy storage system (GESS) by China Tianying Co. (CNTY). Testing included the successful charging and discharging of units of the 25 MW/100 MWh GESS, which was invested in and built by CNTY in partnership with Energy Vault and Atlas Renewable.

August 5, 2025
By Paul Gerke