Tesla and AMS win another major energy storage contract, 34 MWh of battery capacity for water treatment facilities

Only a few weeks after announcing one of the biggest energy storage projects ever, Tesla Energy won again a massive energy storage contract. The automaker’s energy division will supply ‘Powerpacks’ to its energy storage deployment partner, Advanced Microgrid Solutions (AMS), for a major new project: a 7 MW / 34 MWh network of battery systems to support water treatment facilities of Irvine Ranch Water District (IRWD).

The project is part of Tesla’s supply agreement with Advanced Microgrid Solutions signed last year. Under the contract, Tesla will supply AMS with up to 500 MWh of energy storage. It looks like this new project is the biggest between the two companies yet.

Previous projects include a 12 MWh with Cal State University, another one for several office buildings in Irvine, and more recently, a 1 MW Powerpack system inside Morgan Stanley’s San Francisco skyscraper.

In a press release today, AMS describes the new project as “the largest network of energy storage systems at a public water agency in the United States”. IRWD board president, Mary Aileen Matheis, commented on the announcement:

“Our agency has stepped forward with an innovative solution designed to protect customers while helping to reduce and better balance Southern California’s energy demands. This battery storage system – the largest in the nation – provides significant cost savings, enhanced grid stability and contributes to reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and a smaller carbon footprint.”

All the logistics related to water treatment consume a lot of electricity in California. As AMS points out, according to the California Energy Commission, the transportation and treatment of water, treatment and disposal of wastewater, and the energy used to heat and consume water account for nearly 20 percent of the total electricity and 30 percent of non-power plant related natural gas consumed in California.

This new energy storage system should help reduce peak demand for the water treatment facilities and stabilize its energy consumption.

Tesla will supply the battery packs, around 370 Powerpacks, but AMS will design, finance, install and operate energy storage systems at IRWD facilities. Under a 10-year power-purchase agreement with Southern California Edison (SCE), the same power company that contracted Tesla for the major 80 MWh Powerpack system at Mira Loma substation, AMS will manage load reduction using the battery pack system as SCE’s grid requires.

IRWD expects to see cost savings of more than $500,000 per year on its energy bill with the new project.