Big money and big batteries are heading to Wylie, where esVolta has closed roughly $140 million in project financing to build a utility-scale energy storage plant northeast of Dallas. The Boxcar Energy Storage project is planned as a 150 MW / 300 MWh lithium-ion installation that is designed to pump fast-response capacity into the ERCOT market and help blunt outage risk during severe storms. Company officials say construction is already underway, with commercial service targeted for 2027.
In a press release and subsequent coverage by Dallas Business Journal, esVolta said it closed a $139.6 million financing package arranged with MUFG Bank that includes a construction loan, a tax-equity bridge loan, letters of credit and term debt to support the Boxcar build. MUFG is a premier lender in the energy infrastructure space, Justin Johns, esVolta's chief financial officer, said in the release.
Where Boxcar Will Sit
EsVolta's project page lists Boxcar in Wylie with the 150 MW / 300 MWh specification and shows the project's status as "Construction," identifying the site as part of the company’s ERCOT portfolio. City planning packets filed with Wylie show the development grew out of a rezoning and special-use permit for about 8.96 acres at 1011 E Brown St, and early materials name Black Mountain Energy as the applicant and note a planned connection to a neighboring Oncor substation.
Why Lenders And Corporate Buyers Are Interested
Industry coverage notes the project already has a long-term offtake with an unnamed corporate customer, and that storage's ability to provide fast, dispatchable capacity makes it valuable in ERCOT's volatile market. As Renewables Now reported, those contracting features help projects stack revenue from wholesale services and corporate deals, a structure lenders are willing to back in construction financing.
Local Impact And Timeline
Wylie's planning packet says the development could deliver more than $30 million in tax revenue to the community over the plant’s life and requires screening, landscape buffers and concrete service areas to meet fire-safety and access rules, details that are part of the municipal record. esVolta also told investors the Boxcar close will push its Texas storage portfolio to nearly 1.6 GWh across five battery projects once Boxcar is online, per the company's announcement.
Reporting by industry outlets shows the site was advanced earlier in development by Black Mountain Energy before esVolta acquired the project and amended the site plan and interconnection filings. With financing in hand and local permits on file, the Boxcar project serves as another signal that banks and corporate buyers continue to treat utility-scale batteries as a core reliability tool for the North Texas grid.
