Tesla is going to deploy a big battery in Alaska to replace fossil-fuel plant

Tesla is going to deploy a big new battery energy storage system in Alaska, and it’s going to reduce the state’s reliance on fossil-fuel power plants.

Tesla Battery in Alaska

Homer Electric Association (HEA), a member-owned electric utility cooperative based in Alaska, announced that it’s working with Tesla to deploy a big battery:

The BESS will be capable of storing 93 MWh (Megawatt hours) of electrical power that can be delivered to the grid at a rate of 46.5 MWs per hour. The BESS will allow HEA to meet its reliability requirements without having to burn additional fuel. This will result in greater system efficiencies, lower greenhouse gas production, and reduced power outages.

The BESS (Battery Energy Storage System) is going to be installed at the Soldotna Generation Plant.

HEA says that the battery is going to enable them to use more renewable energy and less power from plants burning fossil fuels:

The BESS also provides a great side benefit of opening the door to renewable intermittent energy projects that would have otherwise stretched current thermal generation assets.

The new project is expected to be in service in fall 2021.

Tesla Megapack

After a year of anticipation, Tesla launched “Megapack” earlier this year.

It’s the company’s latest energy storage product, after the Powerpack and the Powerwall, and it is meant as an even bigger option targeting electric utility projects.

According to Tesla, a single Megapack has up to 3 MWh of storage capacity and a 1.5 MW inverter.

The company’s energy storage business has found some success with electric utility companies through the years with its Powerpack, but the competition has been offering bigger options.

Building on the great success of Tesla’s giant battery system in Australia, which has made millions of dollars already, Tesla CEO Elon Musk asks utilities to buy the new Megapack to replace polluting and inefficient peaker plants.

We have already learned of several projects that will use the new Tesla energy storage system.

It’s not clear if this new project in Alaska is going to use the Tesla Megapack, but it looks like most new big projects are using the bigger battery system.