PG&E’s Tesla Megapack now operates in California

The facility announced Monday that an 182.5-megawatt energy storage system in Northern California that was designed and built in partnership between Tesla and Pacific Gas & Electric Company is now operational. The system includes 256 Tesla Megapack battery units on 33 concrete slabs and has the capacity to store and send up to 730 MWh of energy to the electrical grid at a maximum rate of 182.5 MWh during periods of high demand. statment. Known as the Elkhorn Battery due to its location in Elkhorn Slough in Monterey Bay, the lithium-ion battery storage system was approved by the California Public Utilities Commission in 2018 and by the Monterey County Planning Commission in 2020, when construction began. It is among nine projects that will increase PG&E’s total battery energy storage system capacity to more than 3,330 megawatts by 2024, the facility reported. Huge batteries are charged when energy demand is low or alternative energy from solar or wind is high, providing additional capacity by sending that reserved energy back to the grid when demand grows. “We are committed to safely delivering reliable, clean energy in a way that creates the most value for our customers, but we cannot go it alone into this clean energy future. Projects like this require innovative partners, such as Tesla and PG&E,” said Patti Pope, CEO of PG&E Corporation, “We will continue Research and work with the best and brightest to provide innovative clean energy solutions to our customers.”