Tesla’s Horde Of Megapacks Is The Beginning Of The End Of Fossil Fuel Dependence

Tesla has a horde of Megapacks, a total of 157 units, being prepared for delivery to its energy customers. This is the beginning of the end of fossil fuel dependence. Yes, we have a long ways to go before we are fully recovered from our dependence on fossil fuels, but this is an incredible step toward that journey.

Sawyer Merritt recently shared a photo of the Megapacks being prepped at Tesla’s Gigafactory in Nevada. The article noted that Tesla’s customers are well versed in pics of ready-to-ship cars and large volumes of vehicle deliveries, but this time, it’s Megapacks that have been spotted. In his tweet, Sawyer also shared a look at Tesla Semi Megachargers that were being installed in the southeast corner.

The article also mentioned Tesla’s recent Q3 report. In Q3 2021, Tesla’s energy storage deployments increased a whopping 71% year-over-year. In response to the growing demand for clean energy, Tesla started building its first Megafactory in Lathrop, CA. The company broke ground in September and it was recently announced that Tesla would bring 1,000 to 2,000 new clean energy jobs to the area. San Joaquin County Supervisors Chairman Tom Patti called this an opportunity for workers to have a tech manufacturing job without commuting all the way to the Bay Area.

In its quarterly update for Q3, Tesla said:

“Energy storage deployments increased by 71% YoY in Q3, mainly driven by strong Megapack deployments. We recently announced our new Megapack factory with a capacity of 40 GWh, which compares to total Megapack deployments of 3 GWh in the last 12 months. We are very excited about the broader potential of this product.”

In 2020, BBC noted that Tesla’s Megapack battery technology and other big batteries addressed a key challenge for green or clean energy and the article pointed out that it was these batteries that could make fossil fuels obsolete. We’ve been writing that for more than a decade here on CleanTechnica, but BBC had gathered more info worth a gaze. The article compiled a list of sites that were moving from coal or other types of fossil fuels to renewables with battery storage. The article noted that the USA’s utility-scale battery power capacity was set to grow from 1.2 gigawatts in 2020 to nearly 7.5 gigawatts in 2025.

Earlier this year, YaleEnvironment360 published a report and noted that the mass deployment of storage could overcome one of the largest obstacles to renewable energy, which is cycling between oversupply when the sun/wind is in abundance and a shortage of that abundance.

Fast forward almost a year later and here we have the photo that Sawyer shared of Tesla Megapacks being prepared for deliveries. A year ago today, we reported on Tesla Megapacks ordered for the Wallgrove substation west of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. This particular battery has the ability to reduce the grid’s need for old coal and gas plants. The battery is nearly ready to go online. This Megapack project and others planned around New South Wales are aimed at preparing the state to retire its coal fleet.

Albuquerque Public Schools just announced that it is taking on a big clean energy and energy storage project in a joint initiative with Sandia National Laboratories, the U.S. Department of Energy, the New Mexico Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources Department, the Clean Energy States Alliance, and OE Solar. This project, with a budget of $3.2 million, will provide solar power and battery storage for Atrisco Heritage Academy High School and will contain a Tesla Megapack 2, which has an electricity storage capacity of 2884 kWh. There will also be 2,208 solar panels on the roof that will have a power capacity of 850 kilowatts. The project is expected to help the school save around $3.5 million on its electricity bill over the next 25 years.

Another key takeaway from the announcement is that this new project will allow the school to act as a regional neighborhood shelter during emergencies or disasters.

Many companies that have purchased Tesla Megapacks are not only taking steps to end their dependence on fossil fuels but are setting a path for others to follow.

One key challenge for Tesla is one that many companies and even governments are about to face, and this is the supply chain issue that is currently happening. Tesla has proven its ability to navigate such challenges time and time again, but it has also been supply limited when it comes to batteries for years — as recently stated again on the company’s last conference call for shareholders.