Addressing Peak Energy Demand [in LA] with the Tesla Powerpack

[DocM]

And, their Reno NV Gigafactory's is getting 2 new neighbors; 2 battery recycling plants (same company.)

 

https://www.tesla.com/blog/addressing-peak-energy-demand-tesla-powerpack

 

Quote

 

Addressing Peak Energy Demand with the Tesla Powerpack

The Tesla Team
September 15, 2016

Last October, a catastrophic rupture in the Aliso Canyon natural gas reservoir caused a methane gas spill that displaced more than 8,000 Californians and released an unprecedented 1.6 million pounds of methane into the atmosphere. Today, the Aliso Canyon leak is considered the worst in U.S. history, with aggregate greenhouse gas emissions said to outweigh those of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Following the disaster, authorities closed the Aliso Canyon facility, which had been feeding the network of natural gas peaker plants in the Los Angeles basin, deeming it unfit to store the fuel safely and environmentally.

One year later, Los Angeles is still in need of an electric energy solution that ensures reliability during peak times. As winter approaches, homes and buildings in the basin will need more natural gas for heat. These demands apply uncharacteristically high pressure to the energy system, exposing the Los Angeles basin to a heightened risk of rolling blackouts.

Following the leak, California Governor Jerry Brown issued a state of emergency, and in May, the California Public Utilities Commission mandated an accelerated procurement for energy storage. Southern California Edison, among other utilities, was directed to solicit a utility-scale storage solution that could be operational by December 31, 2016. Unlike traditional electric generators, batteries can be deployed quickly at scale and do not require any water or gas pipelines.

Last week, through a competitive process, Tesla was selected to provide a 20 MW/80 MWh Powerpack system at the Southern California Edison Mira Loma substation. Tesla was the only bidder awarded a utility-owned storage project out of the solicitation. 

Upon completion, this system will be the largest lithium ion battery storage project in the world. When fully charged, this system will hold enough energy to power more than 2,500 households for a day or charge 1,000 Tesla vehicles.

The Gigafactory's ability to produce at a large scale will allow this system to be manufactured, shipped, installed and commissioned in three months. The system will charge using electricity from the grid during off-peak hours and then deliver electricity during peak hours to help maintain the reliable operation of Southern California Edison's electrical infrastructure which feeds more than 15 million residents. By doing so, the Tesla Powerpack system will reduce the need for electricity generated by natural gas and further the advancement of a resilient and modern grid.

In order to achieve a sustainable energy future, one which has high penetration of solar and electric vehicles, the world needs a two-way, flexible electric grid. The electric power industry is the last great industry which has not seen the revolutionary effects of storage. Working in close collaboration with Southern California Edison, the Tesla Powerpack system will be a landmark project that truly heralds the new age of storage on the electric grid.

 

 

[Draggendrop Veteran]

This is HUGE.....20 MW/80 MWh Powerpack system.......

 

This is a shake-up and wake-up time...and utilities will take notice.

 

j/k   That is a whole lot of these...

 

 

 

[PGHammer]

Look at the Nevada energy grid - JUST the statewide grid.

It is VERY diverse - and especially when it comes to renewables.

On top of that, you have a lot of "empty" - energy farms based on ANY sort of renewable need a lot of that.

Unlike California, it's more geologically stable (much to Sen. Harry Reid's horror; remember, it wasn't geological faults that halted the proposed Yucca Mountain radiological storage facility in the state - as much as he was hoping); surprisingly, Nevada is more geologically stable than my home state of Maryland.

Despite the glitz/glamor, the Nevada grid has a crapton of excess capacity - one reason for Tesla's Gigafactory is, in fact, packaging some of that excess and shipping it where (and how) by-the-grid is impractical.  Adding grid interlinkage via high-tension - or even medium-tension - wiring is not always practical.

 

[Unobscured Vision]

NOW we're talking!  Store excess Grid Power! We needed this about 40 years ago.

 

This is needed on a mass scale -- everywhere.

 

Now all we need are the Solar Panel and Wind farms, en masse ... and with the new breakthroughs, Solar's up to 35% efficiency with the new concentrator lenses (on average). Wind's never been better too. It'll create thousands and thousands of jobs for people on top of it all, and drive down the overall price of Renewable Energy.

 

No reason not to do it other than the Investment that's required for the Solar/Wind Farms, which will be recouped over time.

[Draggendrop Veteran]

This system will be great for local utility support. With tracking data, one can generalize demand for peaks in A/C and winter heating demand.

 

In Canada, bringing a generating wing online to support a small increase in peak demand, can be very costly since the system is not running at an efficient production capacity. With this approach, factors can be taken into consideration for the installation of the power walls, charge during low demand periods and be augmented by solar, wind, even geothermal. 

 

Rural and semi-remote regions will benefit by extracting maximum production efficiency, tailored to it's consumers historical use.

 

These power walls can be tailored to a variety of capacities, matched to the utilities generation and consumer demand patterns.

[DocM]

I know someone who works the tech side for that utility and he's quite excited because batteries can be more easily scaled, or even moved, as communities grow, shrink or move vs  fixed peak load generation . 

 

 

[Dick Montage]

I swear that Max Shreck had the same plan in Batman Returns!

[Emn1ty]

10 hours ago, Unobscured Vision said:

Now all we need are the Solar Panel and Wind farms, en masse ... and with the new breakthroughs, Solar's up to 35% efficiency with the new concentrator lenses (on average). Wind's never been better too. It'll create thousands and thousands of jobs for people on top of it all, and drive down the overall price of Renewable Energy.

And stop gimping the Nuclear industry, we'll be off carbon emission based fuels in no time.

[Unobscured Vision]

12 hours ago, Emn1ty said:

And stop gimping the Nuclear industry, we'll be off carbon emission based fuels in no time.

Agreed. The Thorium-based Fuels are hot. No pun intended.  Lots and lots of promise there, and the Uranium isotopes that the Thorium-based Reactors make can be used to power RTG's a-plenty and for Research. There's still a place for Uranium, and we'd be foolish not to use it.  

[FloatingFatMan]

About damned time! Lack of storage is the primary reason why renewables are a waste of money so far, so get somewhere to actually STORE the power they generate, which largely isn't actually needed at the times they're effective, and they'll actually serve a purpose at last!

 

[DocM]

Good thing Tesla & Panasonic are planning more battery Gigafactories.

 

Same for the solar panel Gigafactory in Buffalo NY, which opens this fall.

 

[IsItPluggedIn]

I find it funny that the roof is not covered in solar panels.

[Unobscured Vision]

3 hours ago, IsItPluggedIn said:

I find it funny that the roof is not covered in solar panels.

Because it's still under construction ... AND because Buffalo, NY isn't someplace that one would build Solar anyway.

[DocM]

That pic is also a few months old, and it will likely make its own roof later using their n-type panels.

[Unobscured Vision]

27 minutes ago, DocM said:

That pic is also a few months old, and it will likely make its own roof later using their n-type panels.

If they decide to put panels on the roof. Buffalo has lots of long, sunny days during the Spring, Summer and Autumn (much like everywhere else in the Midwest), so no issue there; but the Lake-Effect Snow is way worse in Winter ... that would be a problem that might make the Designers take pause.

[DocM]

Solar is used in Michigan, even in the western part of the state which gets lake effect snow from Lake Michigan. A few miles from here is the Ford Wayne Plant (Focus etc.) and has a big solar field, and the DTE electric utility is building solar farms.

[PGHammer]

The bigger issue with solar (or wind, for that matter) has typically been the eyesore problem - that is why Maryland's Criterion has been stalled where it is.  (Criterion is a small-scale wind farm on the side of Boneback Mountain - the second-tallest in the state.)

[FloatingFatMan]

6 minutes ago, PGHammer said:

The bigger issue with solar (or wind, for that matter) has typically been the eyesore problem - that is why Maryland's Criterion has been stalled where it is.  (Criterion is a small-scale wind farm on the side of Boneback Mountain - the second-tallest in the state.)

I disagree. What they look like can easily be overcome by putting them in places where most folks won't see them. The main problems are the times the wind blows, peak usage, and storage of the generated power.  Half the wind farms in the UK end up getting paid to NOT produce electricity, as the grid can't use it when it's available...

[PGHammer]

I'm referring to Maryland in particular - as opposed to other states - and more to wind than solar.

[Unobscured Vision]

59 minutes ago, FloatingFatMan said:

I disagree. What they look like can easily be overcome by putting them in places where most folks won't see them. The main problems are the times the wind blows, peak usage, and storage of the generated power.  Half the wind farms in the UK end up getting paid to NOT produce electricity, as the grid can't use it when it's available...

And thus the need to be able to store that energy.  Enter Tesla's gear to solve the problem.

 

And I'm with you, Lord Baron. What those systems look like shouldn't be an issue at all. I personally consider them a symbol of modernization and progress, and I'm pleased to see them out in the world doing their business. If anything have the Generation Facilities that can dial it down do so. But I'm sure that's counter-intuitive to their M.O. ...