On its website on Thursday, Tesla said it was selected last week to provide a utility-scale battery system at the Southern California Edison Mira Loma substation.
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Bloomberg New Energy Finance says the battery packs are being produced in record time for the install. “It highlights the maturity of advanced technologies like energy storage to be contracted as a reliable resource in an emergency situation”.
The deal follows in CEO Elon Musk’s vision of transforming the electric vehicle manufacturer into a clean energy company, Bloomberg notes. That’s the same motivation behind his pending deal to acquire SolarCity Corp., the rooftop solar company founded by his cousins, of which he is also chairman and the largest shareholder.
Shares of Tesla are up 2.58% on the day and are back over $200. The company negotiates contracts greater than 2.5 megawatts, and a spokeswoman declined to comment on the value of this 20-megawatt deal.
“The Tesla Powerpack system will reduce the need for electricity generated by natural gas and further the advancement of a resilient and modern grid”, the Palo Alto, CA-based company said in a blog post.
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Tesla Energy completed its latest commercial energy storage installation this and it was at a familiar place for the company: the Brea Mall in California. California has been planning on implementing energy storage for a few years, but the project has seen new urgency in the aftermath of Aliso. The batteries will charge from the electrical grid during off-peak hours and will deliver power to customers during peak hours. “This is a broader energy win”.
