Tesla wins contract with major Australian electric grid to deploy Powerpacks across several sites

Australia is feeling the need to stabilize its electric grid through energy storage and Tesla is among several companies trying to present their battery packs as ideal solutions.

Now we learn that Tesla has won the latest contract with Transgrid, the company operating the NSW transmission grid, in order to deploy Powerpack stations at several sites across New South Wales.

They announced this week that the first installation will be a relatively small 250kW/500KWh Powerpack station at the City of Sydney’s Alexandra Canal Works depot. It should be completed in the coming months.

AFR reports:

“The Powerpack battery will save the City of Sydney on its energy bills and allow it to add more solar panels to the Alexandra Canal Works depot, helping to manage the energy flow by storing surplus power generated in daylight hours for lighting, airconditioning, plant and equipment use at night.”

As part of a contract awarded to Tesla, the projects will follow several more across Transgrid’s network in order to create energy storage capacity for demand response.

While the project has the same goal, it’s unrelated to the Australian government’s tender for a massive 100 MWh energy storage project that Tesla has bid on. The country’s energy problems that led to major power outages over the last year and they decided to turn to energy storage to stabilize their grid.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk promised his company could deliver the energy capacity in 100 days or it would be free. The bids are apparently down to a short list now and the project should be awarded soon – especially since a quick deployment is part of the deal.

Also, as reported earlier this month, Tesla is also deploying energy storage behind the meter in Australia. They have now started Tesla Powerwall 2 installations in the country, which is expected to be one of the most important markets for Tesla’s home battery pack.