Nightpeak Energy, the Oakland-based IPP backed by Energy Spectrum Capital, will start a process to finance a large utility-scale standalone battery storage project in Texas next year, CEO Paris Hays said in an interview.

The company is still working through the specifics and has not hired an investment bank, Hays said. The company has other “breakout” projects scheduled close behind that facility, Hays said.

The company has a good relationship for corporate level equity, though ESC will eventually look for an exit or other return. “The company is not at the point yet where we’ve identified what that route would be.”

Nightpeak recently purchased Saguaro Power Company, which owns a 90 MW combined cycle power plant in Nevada. Infralogic reported at the company’s formation that it would seek to acquire thermal assets.

“Even a do-nothing case is a good case for us,” Hays said of Saguaro, but the company is considering future repowering options.

The company plans to make more acquisitions in ERCOT and the western US, as well as develop a pipeline of “quick-start” natural gas peaking plants (100 MW or more per) in Texas and the western US, Hays said.

Early-stage development of those peaking assets is ongoing, Hays said.