Alaskan Electricity Cooperative Installing 93 MWh Tesla Battery On Financials Alone
A new 93 MWh Tesla Megapack system installed in Alaska by the Homer Electric Association, Inc., will be used to directly offset electricity that would have otherwise required a peaker plant to fire up. The new battery pack will be installed at the Soldotna Power Plant (map), adjacent to the existing natural gas-fired GE LM 6000 turbine currently used to provide electricity to cover peak usage in the area.
The Tesla Energy installation at the Hornsdale wind farm in Australia. Image courtesy: Tesla
The new Tesla batteries will demonstrate that not only can batteries directly replace gas-fired peaker plants, they can do so even in the frigid temperatures of Alaska, where temperatures typically stay below freezing for months at a time in the winter.
The battery pack is being installed by the Homer Electric Association specifically to “increase grid stability, electric power reliability and system efficiency for its members.” The Tesla Megapack installation will be able to fully discharge its 93 MWh of stored energy to the grid at a rate of 46.5 MW, so a full discharge takes 2 hours.
Banks of Tesla Powerpacks are linked together to store massive amounts of electricity in a compact area. Image courtesy: Tesla
Adding the energy storage system to its local grid allows Homer Electric Association to meet the mandated grid reliability requirements without having to rely on the gas turbine for power. Utilizing the battery instead of the turbine means less gas being burned, lower emissions, and a more reliable grid.
Notably, the local electricity cooperative opted to install the new Tesla Energy system as a way of creating a more flexible grid to accommodate more intermittent renewable assets on the grid in the future. Batteries not only serve as peaker units for a grid operator, they are a source of flexibility, one of the most valuable metrics for any grid operator when it comes to keeping everything humming along reliably.
A Tesla Powerpack being installed. Image courtesy: Tesla
The newly inked deal will see the new Tesla Megapack system in Soldotna come online in the fall of 2021. Unfortunately, while the deal has already been locked in, financials for the cost per kWh are not being shared.
Source: Homer Electric
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