PJM Accepts Its First Three Expedited Interconnection Projects, and ENGIE Batteries Take 1,660 of the 2,100 MW
- Capacity & Wholesale Markets News Policy & Markets
Marin Holt
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- 7 minutes read
- Projects accepted: 3
- Combined nameplate: more than 2,100 MW
- ENGIE storage share: 1,660 MW
- Gas uprate: 455 MW
- Online date: mid-2029
- Qualifying bar: 250 MW unforced capacity
PJM accepted three generation projects into its Expedited Interconnection Track on Wednesday, October 8, 2026. They are the first to clear the temporary fast lane since applications opened. The three sit in Pennsylvania and Ohio, carry more than 2,100 MW of combined nameplate capacity, and are slated to come online in mid-2029. Two battery storage projects from ENGIE IR Holdings LLC account for 1,660 MW of that total. The third is a 455 MW uprate at an existing natural gas plant.
What Got In
Wayne 345 kV is an ENGIE storage project sited in Crawford, Pennsylvania, in the PENELEC zone, at 860 MW of nameplate capacity. Galion 345 kV is an ENGIE storage project in Morrow, Ohio, in the ATSI zone, at 800 MW. Hunterstown 500 kV is an upgrade to an existing natural gas facility in Adams, Pennsylvania, in the Met-Ed zone, adding 455 MW. PJM names projects in its database by their planned point of interconnection, not by site name.
A Year-Old Prediction Just Landed
PJM floated the track in October 2025. Writing in Renewable Energy World, Rao Konidena judged battery storage the only fuel type likely to clear the three year window and the acreage limits. The first results match that read. Storage took 1,660 MW of the accepted total, and the only thermal entrant is an uprate at a plant that already exists rather than a new build.
That same analysis raised a sharper question the first cohort does not answer. If a developer is able to reach commercial operation in three years, it asked, why does that developer need an expedited track at all?
Why It Matters
Read the dates before the megawatts. PJM opened applications on July 31 and has taken three projects against an annual ceiling of 10. The track itself sunsets at the end of 2027, yet the first accepted projects do not deliver power until mid-2029. The process expires roughly 18 months before its own first output arrives. Anyone treating the EIT as near-term supply relief for data center load should price it as 2029 capacity, because that is what the accepted queue says.
Critical Perspective
The Expedited Interconnection Track sunsets at the end of 2027. Its first projects arrive mid-2029. This is 18 months after the track expires. Only three of ten 2026 slots were used. Qualifying requires 250 MW unforced capacity and state siting commitment. The process expires before its first output.
The Qualifying Bar
To qualify, a project must offer at least 250 MW of accredited unforced capacity, the amount credited for reliability. It also needs a commitment from the primary siting authority in its state to expedite permitting. That state hook is what makes the track unusual, because it lets individual states accelerate projects against their own resource adequacy needs. PJM expects each developer to execute a Generation Interconnection Agreement within 10 months of submission.
PJM filed the design with FERC on February 27, 2026, in docket ER26-1563. FERC approved the track in June 2026, setting the annual cap of 10 requests and the 250 MW floor. As filed, the track carried a $500,000 study deposit and a readiness deposit of $15,000 per megawatt. Proposals are taken on a rolling basis until the annual limit is reached, and the track sunsets at the end of 2027.
