News: Energy

By Simon Alvarez

Posted on March 21, 2018

Tesla has deployed its Powerpack batteries to the Philippines, helping a local solar company construct a 2MW/2MWh micro-grid for the town of Paluan, which has been suffering from notorious power outages for years. The project went online back in December, giving the town round-the-clock electric power for the first time.

To complete the project, Tesla partnered with local renewable energy company Solar Philippines. According to a report from Energy Storage News, Solar Philippines believes that the 2MW/2MWh will be enough to provide reliable power to the town’s residents 24 hours a day, at 50% less than the usual electricity costs. A 2MW diesel generator is on standby as well, ready to provide extra power when the need arises.

Solar Philippines founder Leandro Leviste believes that the Powerpack installation in Paluan would be the first of many renewable solutions in the country. The Solar Phils. executive further noted that “there is no reason” why other towns in the country would not follow suit, considering the cost benefits offered by solar-battery installations.

Tesla Powerpacks were installed on a small town in the Philippines. The term ‘brownouts’ seen in the banner is a local slang for power outages. [Credit: Solar Phils]

The benefits of the solar-battery system are notable. Thanks to the 2MW/2MWh micro-grid, the town’s residents were able to experience a Christmas absent of power outages for the first time. Schools in the area have also begun using computers. An ice plant, which would support the local fishermen, is also being planned. The town’s residents aired their gratitude to Solar Phils. and Tesla in a recent photograph, proudly declaring that there are no more power outages in the area since the batteries and solar arrays were installed.

The tiny town of Paluan, located just below the largest island in the Philippines, is home to around 16,000 people, according to a census conducted in 2015. The town is infamous for its struggles with electricity, with power outages becoming a part of its residents’ daily routines. The town first got electricity back in 1978, though the region’s grid was only able to provide power for 4 hours a day. This was improved in 2014, when the Philippines’ National Power Corporation was able to provide the town with electricity for 16 hours on a daily basis. Despite this improvement, however, power outages were still common, with some lasting for several days.

Tesla’s Powerpack systems have become game changers for areas with unstable electricity. Over the past few months, Tesla’s 100 MW/129 MWh big battery near Jamestown in South Australia had helped the region’s beleaguered energy grid hundreds of times, at one point even providing backup energy after a coal-powered plant unexpectedly experienced a power loss in December. Tesla had also announced other, more ambitious projects for the country, such as a 250 MW/650 MWh virtual power plant involving 50,000 residential units and Tesla Powerwall 2 batteries.

As we noted in a recent report, however, Tesla’s initiatives in South Australia are currently hitting roadblocks from the government, with newly-elected premier Steven Marshall stating that he would not support the company’s virtual power plant initiative. LNP senator and Minister for Resources Matt Canavan also dismissed Tesla’s efforts, calling the Powerpack farm near Jamestown the “Kim Kardashian” of energy.

Tesla Powerpack batteries help Philippines town end longtime power crisis

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J.Taylor     0 likes  4 days ago

Solar and battery packs are the future of renewable power. When these can under-price Fossil fuel generation, the slide to green will avalanche.

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By Simon Alvarez

Posted on March 19, 2018

Tesla’s plans of setting up a 250 MW/650 MWh virtual power plant comprised of 50,000 residential homes and Powerwall 2 units have hit a massive roadblock, with newly elected South Australia premier Steven Marshall expressing his opposition to the project. According to the premier, his government intends to replace the virtual power plant with a new initiative that involves subsidies to residents in the region.

Marshall expressed his stern opposition to Tesla’s plan shortly before he was sworn in as South Australia’s premier. The newly elected Liberal explained that the virtual power plant, which was a project started by his predecessor, former premier Jay Weatherill, will be replaced with another initiative that also involves renewable energy, as noted in a report from Renew Economy.

“(Former premier Jay Weatherill) was doing it for Housing Trust homes in South Australia… That’s not part of our plan. What we are going to do is provide a subsidy to get (those with) solar rooftops systems with some storage capacity,” the newly elected premier said.

Marshall explained his plan to replace Tesla’s virtual power plant further, stating that the government would be proceeding with his previously announced commitment to issue a $100 million subsidy for 40,000 residential units. Each of the residential units will be given a $2,500 subsidy for home battery packs. Unlike Tesla and the former premier’s plan, however, Marshall’s government aims to provide grants to homes that already have solar panels installed.

This is in stark contrast to Tesla’s proposal for its 250 MW/650 MWh virtual power plant, which involves providing Tesla Powerwall 2 batteries and solar panels to 25,000 Housing Trust households and 25,000 private low-income homes for free. To fund the project, the South Australian State government would help in the release of a $2 million grant and another $30 million loan from the Renewable Technology fund. Additional funding for the virtual plant, which is expected to cost $800 million when complete, would come from investors.

With this in mind, Marshall’s plan to discontinue Tesla’s virtual power plant and pursue subsidies instead would result in more expenses from the government. Apart from this, the newly-elected premier’s initiative would likely be out of reach for low-income households as well, considering that residents who will be part of Marshall’s plan still need to get solar panels installed, while covering part of the home battery storage units’ price.

If completed, Tesla’s proposed 250 MW/650 MWh virtual power plant would boast roughly six times more energy storage capacity than the company’s 100 MW/129 MWh Hornsdale Wind Farm Powerpack system near Jamestown. As we noted in a previous report, even the Jamestown Powerpack farm has received flak from the Australian government recently, with LNP senator and Minister for Resources Matt Canavan describing the big battery as the “Kim Kardashian” of the energy industry.

Tesla’s virtual power plant under fire from South Australia’s new premier

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bd1414     0 likes  4 days ago

More economically efficient solution this way, although less socially efficient.  At this point, PV should have a very low payback and should not require a government subsidy; the batteries are not there yet and have a material benefit to the grid.Longer term, the concern I would have is requiring batteries to grid-connect solar.

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J.Taylor     0 likes  3 days ago

When voters elect a new government, they get a new plan. The poor in south Australia who just lost out have themselves to blame for not voting in their previous government.

Will this make much difference to Tesla? Not really. They will still sell all the solar roofs and battery packs they can produce.

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By Simon Alvarez

Posted on March 14, 2018

Tesla’s massive South Australia battery installation recently received some harsh words from LNP senator and Minister for Resources Matt Canavan, who likened the massive Powerpack system to reality TV star Kim Kardashian. According to Canavan, Tesla’s battery is not very useful at all, and that it is simply “famous for being famous.”

The Australian minister’s statements about the Tesla Powerpack installation in South Australia were spoken at the recently-held CERAWeek 2018 conference, an international gathering about the future of the energy industry, which was held in Houston, TX. During the event, Canavan optimistically talked about investments in Australia’s coal, gas, and other resource-driven industries.

As noted in a report from Renew Economy, however, the resource minister added a little extra to his talk, dismissing the success of Tesla’s big battery installation in South Australia. The Australia-based publication was able to get a transcript of Canavan’s comments about Tesla’s South Australia Powerpack installation in the CERAWeek 2018 conference. According to the resource minister, the big battery “really doesn’t deliver very much.”

“It’s the world’s biggest battery, I’m told. I think it can supply power for about five percent of the state that it’s in – South Australia, it’s a relatively small state – for about an hour.

“It’s not really a solution for the stability problems of South Australia… You’ll excuse me for a bit of rhetorical flourish – I’m a politician. I sometimes think this big battery is the Kim Kardashian of the energy world – it’s famous for being famous. It really doesn’t deliver very much.”

The resource minister’s comparison of Tesla’s big battery to the reality TV star reveals a dismissive attitude towards the Elon Musk-led firm’s initiatives in Australia, especially since Kim Kardashian is one of the entertainment industry’s most polarizing figures. Breaking into mainstream popularity by the viral spread of a leaked home video, Kardashian is usually bashed by her critics for becoming “famous for being famous.”

Canavan’s comments have drawn a significant amount of criticism from his followers on Twitter and in the online forum community, many of whom believe that Tesla’s Powerpack system is actually helping South Australia’s energy grid. The Tesla Powerpack system, after all, has already achieved several milestones since it was powered on in November 2017.

Since coming online, the SA Powerpack system, which gets its energy from the Hornsdale wind farm near Jamestown, has provided support for the region’s beleaguered grid. In December alone, the big battery installation provided backup energy to the region hundreds of times. It even supplied emergency power to one of Australia’s biggest coal-fired stations after the facility experienced an unexpected power loss on December 14.

Tesla’s 100 MW/129 MWh Powerpack system dubbed as the ‘World’s largest battery’ in Jamestown, Australia

Recent findings from Australia Institute’s latest national energy emissions audit also show that Tesla’s Powerpack battery in South Australia is working to serve the peak energy demand of the region on a daily basis. The Institute further noted that emissions from the National Electricity Market (NEM) continued to decline during January, hitting their lowest levels since 2004.

As stated in a report from The Guardian, Hugh Saddler, an expert in the energy industry, recently examined the charging and discharging patterns of the Powerpack installation. According to the energy expert, the South Australia Powerpack followed a consistent pattern of charging overnight when wind power is abundant, and discharging into the energy grid during the day when market prices and demand are at their highest levels. Only 30% of the big battery’s 100MW capacity is devoted to this charge and discharge cycle, however, as the remaining capacity of the Hornsdale Power Reserve installation is set aside for the task of keeping the energy grid’s frequency at a steady 50 Hz and 240 volts.

Comprised of approximately 640 Powerpack units, the 100 MW/129MWh system currently stands as the world’s largest lithium-ion battery installation. The success of the South Australia Powerpack has been so notable, Victoria has also expressed its desire to have a similar battery system installed. A residential virtual power plant, comprised of 50,000 homes fitted with solar panels and Tesla’s Powerwall home units, is also being planned.

Unlike Australia’s resource minister Matt Canavan, State premier Jay Weatherill has expressed his full support of the country’s clean energy initiatives, stating that he is looking forward to the time when the planned 250 MW/650 MWh virtual power plan would come online.

“My government has already delivered the world’s biggest battery, and now we will deliver the world’s largest virtual power plant. We will use people’s homes as a way to generate energy for the South Australian grid, with participating households benefiting with significant savings in their energy bills. Our energy plan means that we are leading the world in renewable energy and now we are making it easier for more homes to become self-sufficient,” the state premier said. 

[This article is updated to show additional information on the daily performance of the South Australia Tesla Powerpack installation.]

Tesla’s South Australia battery is ‘Kim Kardashian’ of energy, says minister

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Null     1 likes  2 days ago

No wonder why Australia needs help with it’s electrical services. Guys like this bought and paid for by the mining companies.

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JordanWilliamson     0 likes  2 days ago

Sounds like this guy doesn’t understand why his own government implemented this solution. It’s not a power plant, it was to provide reserve power during times when the grid is overloaded at peak or the windmills can’t spin.

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J.Taylor     0 likes  2 days ago

LNP senator and Minister for Resources Matt Canavan is a guy that Australian voters should turf out next election …
Vote for sanity in your political leaders, not outrageous stupidity.
The Fossil fuel industry is going to crumble, but not without a fight.

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By Simon Alvarez

Posted on March 13, 2018

Recent aerial photographs obtained by Teslarati show that Tesla’s installation of its rooftop solar array for Gigafactory 1 outside of Reno, Nevada is progressing well. As could be seen in the images, which were taken on March 12, 2018, the California-based electric car and energy company has installed six sets of solar panels on the north end of the facility so far.

Gigafactory 1 was designed with sustainability in mind. Tesla’s description of the sprawling facility alone states that the factory is set to be powered exclusively by renewable energy sources, including a massive solar array that would be installed on its roof. In Tesla’s handout for an investor event, the Elon Musk-led firm described its plans of installing the largest rooftop solar array in the world and the system’s impressive specs. As the facility started taking form, however, the Nevada Gigafactory’s solar panels have proven elusive.

“GF1 is an all-electric factory with no fossil fuels (natural gas or petroleum) directly consumed. We will be using 100% sustainable energy through a combination of a 70 MW solar rooftop array and solar ground installations. The solar rooftop array is ~7x larger than the largest rooftop solar system installed today.”

Leaked images of the first set of solar panels in Gigafactory 1’s roof were released by Building Tesla late last month. The publication, which tracks the progress of Tesla’s structures over time, was able to get a snapshot of the rooftop solar array on February 21, 2018. During that time, only one set of solar panels were completed, and another one was being installed.

If Teslarati’s aerial photos are any indication, it seems like Tesla was able to install almost five more sets of solar panels over the last couple of weeks. Here are the photos we obtained of Gigafactory 1.

An aerial shot of Tesla’s Gigafactory 1 outside Reno, Nevada, taken during a flyover on March 12, 2018. [Credit: Teslarati]

An aerial shot of Tesla’s Gigafactory 1 outside Reno, Nevada, taken during a flyover on March 12, 2018. [Credit: Teslarati]

An aerial shot of Tesla’s Gigafactory 1 outside Reno, Nevada, taken during a flyover on March 12, 2018. [Credit: Teslarati]

An aerial shot of Tesla’s Gigafactory 1 outside Reno, Nevada, taken during a flyover on March 12, 2018. [Credit: Teslarati]

An aerial shot of Gigafactory 1 outside Reno, Nevada, taken during a flyover on March 12, 2018 and showing Tesla’s ongoing construction of a rooftop solar array. [Credit: Teslarati]

Now estimated to cost more than $1.3 billion in construction costs, the Nevada Gigafactory is still only a fraction of its planned size. Nevertheless, it is heartening to see that Tesla is starting the construction of the Nevada Gigafactory’s photovoltai system. It does, after all, fit in well with the company’s current strategy of growing from within and optimizing its existing facilities before expanding its physical footprint.

As we noted in a previous report, Gigafactory 1’s footprint has been the same since August 2017. Reports from Buildzoom, however, reveal that the facility has seen a flurry of activity last year, with the Elon Musk-led firm filing 112 new building permits for Gigafactory 1 in 2017. The improvements, which cost Tesla another 379.9 million, included 50 addendums — enhancements for facilities already in operation — including upgrades for its microgrid laboratory, chiller yard, and general improvements in Sections F and G. A permit for a metrology lab, which would ensure that components are manufactured according to specifications, was also filed.

Currently, the Nevada Gigafactory, which is tasked with the production of the Model 3’s battery packs and drivetrain, boasts a footprint of 1.9 million square feet, with 4.9 million square feet of operational space across several floors. While the now-$1.3-billion facility is already impressive, however, Gigafactory 1 is still only 30 percent complete. Once finished, it is expected to cover an area of 13 million square feet and boast a battery production capacity of 35 GWh annually, making it the largest building in the world by physical footprint.

Tesla’s solar rooftop array at Gigafactory 1 is starting to take shape

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vdiv     1 likes  3 days ago

Guess that microgrid lab needed some «microgridy» photovoltaics 😀 Bob Marley is suddenly singing «Sun is Shining» 🙂

Wonder if now other Tesla facilities will get panels as well, the Fremont and Buffalo factories, new office buildings, service centers, and Superchargers.

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robbyhoffmann     0 likes  3 days ago

Well that’s no more than were installed on March 1.
Source: https://www.buildingtesla.com/Gigafactory%201.php

Link to specific image from that date: https://www.buildingtesla.com/images/Gigafactory%201/01-03-2018.png

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Roy_H     0 likes  2 days ago

I am confused by a few details. The footprint, going by the photos here covers most of the property, with available expansion to the south by about half the width of the building or 1 more section. I refer to the building as being 2 «sections» wide (east-west) and about 7 sections long (north-south). This shows about 9 sections currently built, and for about 5 more on the north-west to make the building ultimately 10×2 = 20 sections. I think these estimates would indicate it is now 45% built, not 30%. The article also says the ultimate size is 13 million sq ft while current size is 1.9 Msqft. I think there is a mix up in «area covered» and floor space. At least I think «area covered» would be land area, not floor area.

Also it looks like the solar panels are arranged in rows north-south instead of the normal east-west. East-west orientation allows the panels to be tilted south without shading the next row.

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sjoerd.jump     0 likes  2 days ago

looks like this is only the start:
https://electrek.co/guides/tesla-gigafactory/

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By Simon Alvarez

Posted on March 12, 2018

Bee’ah Group Chief Executive Officer Khaled Al Huraimel recently talked about the Middle Eastern firm’s clean energy initiatives, including its 50 Tesla Semi orders and Tesla Powerpack batteries that are set to be installed in its future headquarters in Sharjah, UAE.

The Bee’ah executive shared his thoughts about the company’s plans in a recent interview with Logistics News reporter Mehak Srivastava. Uploaded on YouTube by the Logistics News ME channel, the short segment featuring Al Huraimel was filled with new insights about Tesla’s role in the Middle Eastern firm’s future.

According to the Bee’ah CEO, the company is currently working on multiple initiatives to push its goal of exclusively adopting green technology for its day-to-day operations. Among these is Bee’ah’s aim of replacing its entire fleet of more than 1,000 trucks with emissions-free vehicles. With this in mind, Al Huraimel stated that the the firm’s purchase of 50 Tesla Semis is but the start.

“We have over 1,000 vehicles operating across the UAE, which we are now in the phase of replacing to a more eco-friendly fleet. We just recently placed (orders for) the first 50 trucks, Tesla trucks, that will be placed in the Middle East,” the executive said.

Al Huraimel further asserted that Bee’ah is in close partnership with the Elon Musk-led firm. Bee’ah is currently building its one-of-a-kind, futuristic headquarters in Sharjah, UAE. Designed by prominent architect Zaha Hadid, Bee’ah’s upcoming HQ is set to be a marvel of green technology, being completely emissions-free and functioning entirely on renewable energy. According to the CEO, Tesla’s Powerpack batteries form a pivotal part of the plans for its upcoming headquarters.

“We do a lot with Tesla, including our new headquarters, which we are building, which will become the first LEED-certified Platinum building in Sharjah. It will be powered 100% by renewable energy and the Powerpacks for the battery storage will be by Tesla.”

The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification is a system originally developed by the US Green Building Council as a means to encourage the adoption and construction of resource-and-energy efficient buildings. As of date, the LEED certification scale features four levels — Certified, Silver, Gold, and Platinum — and graded on a 136-point scale. For buildings to be LEED Platinum-certified, they have to earn a minimum of 90 points from a variety of metrics from materials and resources, energy and atmosphere, and overall sustainability, among others.

As we noted in a previous report, Bee’ah’s 50 Tesla Semis will play a key role in the environmental and waste management firm’s daily operations, with some of the trucks set to be utilized for waste collection and transportation and others being used for the transportation of materials for recovery.

Bee’ah CEO discusses Tesla Semi and Powerpacks for clean energy HQ

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By Simon Alvarez

Posted on February 22, 2018

Irvine Ranch Water District manager Paul Cook recently provided some details about the ongoing Tesla Powerpack project in Southern California, as the utility aims to reduce the district’s energy costs by more than $500,000 annually.

The California public water agency signed a deal with Tesla’s energy storage deployment partner, Advanced Microgrid Solutions, to install Powerpack systems at 11 of its facilities back in 2016. The first batch of Tesla batteries were installed last October, and deployed to six high-energy pumping stations, three water treatment and recycling plants, one deep aquifer treatment system, and one groundwater desalter facility. The entire 7 MW / 34 MWh system will provide the public utility with costs savings of more than $500,000 per year, and help stabilize demand on the stressed Southern California electrical grid.

In an interview with Water Deeply, the Irvine Ranch executive noted that the battery initiative had been in the works even before the official announcement was made back in 2016. According to Cook, it was only a matter of waiting when the technology was refined enough before the IRWD fully committed to it.

“We started working on this back in 2015 – what’s out there and who has the expertise and what are the missing pieces. But the missing piece that we could tell was the software that goes along with the batteries. It’s the software that can actually learn how your system is working,” said Cook.

Cook further stated that progress on the battery project has been going on at a satisfactory pace. According to the IRWD exec, the efforts of Tesla’s energy storage partner has allowed the project to make significant headway in a short period of time.

“In just a few months, we got those 11 sites nailed down and submitted for funding through a program offered by the Public Utilities Commission. Then we negotiated terms with Advanced Microgrid Solutions. It ended up being a pretty great example of a public-private partnership,” Cook said.

The IRWD executive is looking into using the Tesla’s Powerpack system in conjunction with other renewable energy sources.

“Our projects are pure battery, but in the future, batteries will be married up with renewables. We have a project looking at that right now. We have a couple of big, buried reservoirs at that plant that are perfect for setting up photovoltaics,” Cook said.

A full transcript of Paul Cook’s interview with Water Deeply could be found here.

As we noted in a previous report, a proposal to the New York Public Service Commission has been submitted by Orange and Rockland Utilities for a Tesla Powerpack system that could see a 70% reduction in the demand charges on customer electricity bills. If approved, the proposed 2 MW/4 MWh system would be part of the Reforming the Energy Vision (REV), a comprehensive energy strategy started by New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, which aims to promote and foster the adoption of clean energy in the state.

CA public water agency opens up about its Tesla Powerpack installation

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joeski1     0 likes  2 days ago

This is an important market for TESLA
If they can get a foothold in this before other advancing manufacturers.. they may hold on to this market lead for longer than vehicles or solar.. this IS SpaceX level..

Also.. who promulgates the idea California’s energy grid is «already stressed» ? What is their goal or interest in advancing that distortion?

I for 1 don’t believe it…

install solar pv, offset your vehicle’s energy use and your home’s as well…

The Powerwall I have debated time and time again.. but our electrical utility has a 98.7% reliability rating as of 2015.

Really tough to find the immediate need here in Nj..

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By Simon Alvarez

Posted on February 19, 2018

Nova Scotia Power recently announced that the testing of industrial-grade Tesla Powerpack batteries at its Elmsdale substation is now underway. The batteries, which are part of the company’s Intelligent Feeder Project, will be partially powered by energy generated from wind turbines located in Hardwood Lands, NS.

In an announcement about the initiative, Nova Scotia Power project manager Jill Searle noted that she is optimistic about the Intelligent Feeder Project, especially since it is the first of its kind in the region. 

“Technology such as battery storage is making traditional utility systems smarter. This project is one of the first of its kind that we know about, and we’re excited to be leading the charge. It has great potential to positively impact the reliability of our system and help us provide power to customers when they need it most,” she said.

Nova Scotia’s Hardwood Lands wind farm provides the area with clean energy, but before the installation of the Tesla Powerpacks, the energy provider had no effective way to harness the energy it generates for later use. With the battery system in place, however, energy can be stored and distributed even when the wind turbines are not generating power. 

In a statement to Global News Canada, David Swan, a DHS Engineering engineer who is tasked to keep the system running, described how the Tesla Powerpacks could work even when there is no wind.

“If there’s no wind, it’ll provide energy. If there’s too much wind, it can absorb it for later use. So it allows us to have a larger component of renewable energy in our system,” Swan said.

.@nspowerinc’s Jill Searle talks about the company’s Intelligent Feeder pilot project at the #ElmsdaleNS substation. The project involves @Tesla batteries. #NovaScotia #GlobalNewsAt6 pic.twitter.com/OQCPoCUJbV

— Steve Silva (@SteveCSilva) February 8, 2018

Power outages in Nova Scotia last an average of two hours. According to Searle, the Tesla Powerpack system, which could support around 300 homes, would be perfect to fill in the gaps in the power system.

“We would expect a battery like this, during a cold winter night, to perhaps last for a two-hour duration, but in the summertime when it’s a little lightly loaded, we could expect the battery to last for much longer,” the project manager said, according to a Global News Canada report.

Apart from the Tesla Powerpack system, ten residential homes will also be given Tesla Powerwall batteries to aid the utility provider in seeing how renewable energy can augment the province’s power needs.

The Intelligent Feeder Project was initially announced back in 2016 and is expected to run until 2019. The total cost of the initiative is $3.4 million. Sustainable Development Technology Canada, a group which supports clean energy initiatives, has contributed $625,918 to fund the project.

As we noted in a previous report, a proposal to the New York Public Service Commission has been submitted by Orange and Rockland Utilities, suggesting that Tesla’s Powerpack batteries be deployed as a means to provide backup to the region’s grid. If approved, the proposed 2 MW/4 MWh system would be part of the Reforming the Energy Vision (REV), a comprehensive energy strategy started by New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, which aims to promote and foster the adoption of clean energy in the state.

Nova Scotia utility adds Tesla Powerpack in a bid to capture wind energy in intelligent feeder project

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By Simon Alvarez

Posted on February 15, 2018

Orange and Rockland Utilities, a utility provider that is part of Consolidated Edison, Inc., recently submitted a proposal to collaborate with Tesla in the creation of a battery storage solution for New York residents. With the system in place, O&R expects its customers to see up to a 70% reduction in the demand charges on their electricity bills.

The Consolidated Edison utility provider submitted the proposal for the project on February 6 to the New York Public Service Commission. If the initiative does get approved, Tesla would be working closely with the utility provider to develop multi-use strategies that balance dispatch among stakeholder groups, including consumers who would be participating in the project.

Orange & Rockland further teased that the project would involve the creation of two 2 MW/4 MWh portfolios. One of these battery installations would be deployed to service commercial and industrial sites while the other would be built at one or two ongoing solar projects. Tesla would be tasked with the development of the battery system that will be used in the project.

In a statement to the American Public Power Association, O&R described how it would collaborate with the Elon Musk-led electric car maker and energy firm to complete and eventually operate the proposed project.

“These strategies will be guided by algorithms and protocols, designed by Tesla, to deliver optimal dispatch for the aggregated portfolio, maximizing the portfolio value among customers, the distribution grid, and Tesla. Under this demonstration, the flexible operating characteristics of distributed energy storage will be employed to obtain the highest value use of the resource at any point in time.”

If approved, O&R expects the NY battery storage system to earn up to $788,000 annually. From these earnings, 90% of the wholesale market revenue will be given to O&R to offset the project’s cost, while the remaining 10% will be given to Tesla. Overall, the Edison Consolidated utility provider remains optimistic about the proposed battery storage system.

“When energy storage is deployed for multiple value streams, the amount of value and revenue generated on a per unit basis increases to capture previously idle storage capacity for productive use. This additional revenue means that multi-use applications of energy storage can be economically viable in locations where single-use applications are not,” the utility provider stated, according to the APPA.

If approved, Tesla and O&R’s NY battery project will be part of the Reforming the Energy Vision (REV), a comprehensive energy strategy started by New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, which aims to promote and foster the adoption of clean energy in the state.

Tesla’s participation in the proposed NY battery solution comes at a time when the California-based electric car and energy company is attempting to increase its saturation of the energy sector. In Tesla’s recently released Q4 earnings report, the Elon Musk-led firm stated that it is aiming to deploy at least three times the storage capacity it rolled out in 2017. Tesla seeks to accomplish this by engaging in energy projects, both local and abroad.  

As we noted in a recent report, Tesla is attempting to build a massive 250 MW/650 MWh virtual power plant in South Australia using residential solar panels and its Powerwall home battery pack. Tesla’s Powerpack Farm at the Hornsdale wind farm near Jamestown also continues to exceed expectations, providing backup power to the region’s beleaguered energy grid since starting its operations late last year.

Tesla to partner with NY utility company on battery storage system

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patrick-gilhard     0 likes  6 days ago

Good start, but 2 to 4MW only…at the scale of NYC …… That is a very slow start to the least.
But the earlier they start the better so great news !

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By evannex.com

Posted on February 7, 2018

“To the more established brands, it is a young upstart company with performance claims that seem unreasonably optimistic. Instead of being rooted in reality, its new sporty two-door appears to be little more than the expressed will of a mercurial leader. There are already rumors of potential bankruptcy. Surely, this is hubris run amok.”

The automaker in question? Honda in the late 1960s. Fifty years later, Tesla and Elon Musk are the objects of great admiration, but also constant targets of criticism. In a recent article in The Globe and Mail, Brendan McAleer tells a fascinating story of a young company with a charismatic leader, which finally found great success by tempering its expansive dreams with a dose of reality.

In the sixties, Honda and its founder, Soichiro Honda, faced attacks very similar to those being launched at Tesla today. Mr. Honda’s pride and joy was the Honda 1300, aka the Coupe 9. It was an innovative, forward-looking little car, with an air-cooled four-cylinder engine, independent suspension, and excellent fuel efficiency.

The problem was Soichiro Honda himself, who apparently couldn’t resist the urge to keep improving his design. At one point, he ordered the assembly line to stop so that new features could be added. “Eventually, his engineers set up a desk in the factory to deal with his constant interfering,” McAleer writes (sound familiar?). “Honda was forced to step back and his engineers worked to combine his passionate ideas with the practical needs of modern mass manufacturing. The next car they produced was the Honda Civic. You could say it did pretty well.”

Above: The iconic Soichiro Honda celebrates the first H1300 car off the production line (Image: Honda)

Like Mr. Honda, Elon Musk is famous for his interest in every detail of his company’s vehicles. However, it’s safe to say that the extremes of emotion Elon inspire go far beyond anything ever aimed at Mr. Honda, at least in the Western press. Is Musk “a messianic figure or the fraudulent leader of a cultish mob?” McAleer asks.

Noting that the truth surely lies somewhere in the middle, McAleer lists some of Tesla’s strengths and weaknesses. The latter include a consistent failure to deliver a product on time, quality-control issues and “an apparent inability to turn a profit” (which it might be more accurate to call a lack of interest in turning a profit).

McAleer goes on to say that Tesla’s corporate culture appears to discourage internal criticism, and cites Model X’s Falcon Wing doors, which even some at Tesla have characterized as a mistake, as a symptom of a top-down culture. He doesn’t seem to be enamored of some of Model 3’s innovations: “Clean-slate thinking is one thing, but ignoring the lessons learned by others is a mistake.”

Tesla’s greatest strength is the fanatical devotion of its customers, and in today’s brand-centric business world, that may be an insurmountable advantage. As a brand, Tesla is one of the greatest in history, right up there with Harley-Davidson and the Grateful Dead. Legacy automakers are gearing up to offer vehicles to compete with Tesla (as they reportedly have been for several years now), but it’s difficult to imagine any of them ever rivaling Tesla’s brand loyalty.

Elon Musk has set out to electrify the world’s transportation system – a far loftier goal than anything Soichiro Honda thought about doing. But as Honda’s story illustrates, those who would change the world need to ground their dreams in reality. Hopefully, the continuing rollout of Model 3 will demonstrate that innovative ideas combined with a healthy respect for the practical aspects of manufacturing and consumer behavior add up to a winning formula.

===

Note: Article originally published on evannex.com, by Charles Morris

Source: The Globe and Mail

What Tesla and Honda’s early success have in common

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Michael Russo     0 likes  6 days ago

That is an interesting analogy… I would offer though that in terms of design attractiveness, Honda seems to have significantly lost their touch relative to what they offered a while back. This is definitely a way to distinguish them from Franz’ beautiful work at T≡SLA !! 😉

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By Simon Alvarez

Posted on January 30, 2018

After several companies followed Tesla’s lead in its initiative to establish a presence at the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center, the massive 105,000-acre industrial park in Nevada is nearly sold out on its land. Lance Gilman, Principal and Director of TRI, who’s company owns the land at the commercial center noted that almost all of the 165-square-mile area has been sold out, thanks in no small part to progressive firms like California-based Tesla.

Only 250 acres of land from the TRI remain undeveloped, according to Gilman. The pace of the area’s development has been unprecedented, as initial expectations for the site predicted that the 105,000-acre land would be fully sold and developed within three generations. As it turned out, however, it will take less than 20 years before almost the entirety of the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center was purchased.

“We thought this would take three generations to accomplish. That was my vision at the time. I thought for sure, based on the rate of absorption in Northern Nevada, that we would, certainly, be looking at three generations. But it has been done in less than 20 years,” Gilman said, according to a Las Vegas Sun report.

Gilman admitted that the pace of development in the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center had experienced a  significant boost since 2014 — the year when Tesla selected the TRI as the site for its first Gigafactory. The massive battery production facility is tasked with manufacturing the battery and drivetrain for the Model 3, as well as the Elon Musk-led firm’s Powerwall and Powerpack energy solutions.

While the site had already been developing at an admirable rate prior to the arrival of the California-based electric car and energy company, the TRI partner-broker credits Tesla as the spark that ultimately encouraged several other firms to invest in the industrial park. In a statement to the Las Vegas Sun, Gilman described how Tesla became the catalyst for the boost in interest and development at the TRI.

“I always smile when I go back and think about four years ago when Tesla arrived. We already had about 115 companies in there… But when we met Tesla, that put us on an entirely different international platform. And when that platform started to grow, all of a sudden, here came Switch and others, and we just had these corporate groups come in here, following Tesla all of a sudden. And so we’ve entered the tech world.”

The Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center partner-broker further noted that just recently, 15 other companies have purchased plots of land in the area. Most of these new transactions involved companies that are, just like Tesla, trailblazing new technologies in the business and consumer landscape. Google purchased 1,210 acres of land at the industrial center for $29.1 million last year and will reportedly build a data center on the premise. Another notable company taking residence is Blockchains LLC, a company focused on the development of blockchain distributed ledger technology.  

As we noted in a recent report, Tesla’s Gigafactory 1 seems to be exhibiting growth from within, with the company ramping up its efforts to hire more workers for the site despite the main structure remaining relatively unchanged for the past six months. Once the Nevada Gigafactory is fully completed, the structure would be the largest building in the world by footprint. True to Tesla’s goal of ushering in an era of emissions-free manufacturing, the Nevada Gigafactory is also designed to be powered by sustainable energy.

Tesla spurs land grab at Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center, 99% sold out

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Michael Russo     0 likes  27 days ago

I call it the T≡SLA Drive!! 😀

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