What is Tesla’s Megapack?

In today’s news post, we’re discussing Tesla’s new Megapack, a new utility-scale energy storage product modeled after a giant battery system that was deployed in South Australia. The Megapack was announced this past Monday, and is hoped to provide an alternative to natural gas “peaker” power plants.

Tesla’s Megapack will provide 182.5 MW of the upcoming 567 MW Moss Landing energy storage project in California with PG&E. The so-called Megapack was specifically designed and engineered to be an easy-to-install utility-scale system. Each system comes fully assembled — that includes battery modules, bi-directional inverters, a thermal management system, an AC main breaker and controls — with up to 3 megawatt-hours of energy storage and 1.5 MW of inverter capacity. The system includes software, developed by Tesla, to monitor, control and monetize the installations, the company said in a blog post announcing Megapack.

This seems like a big leap for the electric car company, but Elon Musk has described Tesla’s purpose is to “help expedite the move from a mine-and-burn hydrocarbon economy towards a solar electric economy, which I believe to be the primary, but not exclusive, sustainable solution”. Battery storage is transforming the global electric grid and is an increasingly important element of the world’s transition to sustainable energy. In the past year alone, Tesla has installed more than 1 GWh of global storage capacity with their current storage products, Powerwall and Powerpack, bringing their total global footprint to more than 2 GWh of cumulative storage. With Megapack, this number will continue to accelerate exponentially in the coming years. This new Megapack will definitely be a step in the right direction for Tesla to reach its goals and to change the economy and industry. See Inverse, Tech Crunch, and Tesla for more.