Tesla to roll out “multiple” Powerpacks in NSW battery storage win

US electric vehicle and battery maker Tesla has been tapped by NSW network operator TransGrid to deliver several of its grid-scale Powerpack battery storage systems to support remote dispatch of demand response and the smoothing of variable solar generation.

The job, part of a winning tender in 2016, will deploy the California company’s 250kW/500kWh Powerpack systems, with the first installation slated for the City of Sydney’s Alexandra Canal Works depot.

Tesla says that grid-scale battery system will provide the depot with savings in energy costs while also boosting the City of Sydney’s carbon reduction efforts, as it aims for cuts of 70 per cent by 2030.

The Powerpack is also expected to allow for the addition of further solar panels to the existing infrastructure, and to enhance the management the solar power generated, storing it for use at night, to power lighting, air conditioning, and plant equipment.

The new grid-scale project come just a few months after Tesla launched its second generation of home and grid lithium-ion battery systems in Australia.

At that launch, the company’s head of energy products, Lyndon Rive, memorably claimed that Tesla could solve the so-called “power crisis” afflicting South Australia inside of one year, using its grid-scale battery storage. This claim was quickly backed by the company’s founder and CEO, Elon Musk, in effect turning Australia’s energy debate on its head.

Rive also said Tesla had a “big pipeline” of grid-scale battery storage projects, many of which could solve the kinds of network troubles experienced in a number of Australian states over the latest record-breaking summer.

So far in Australia, Tesla has delivered Powerpack installations of 190kWh at Dream Factory in Footscray, Melbourne, and 95kWh at a school in Rockhampton, Queensland.