The facility is expected to enter service in 2021 and will be designed, built and maintained through the two companies, with PG-E being the property. The structure of Moss Landing and other such storage megaprojects worldwide foreshadows a major abandonment of hydrocarbon-based electrical systems to renewable production backed by large-scale storage. According to Fong Wan, senior vice president of PG-E:
“The battery-powered power garage plays a key role in the overall power and reliability of the power grid, integrating renewable resources while reducing reliance on fossil fuel production. It can be used as an option for more expensive classic cabling solutions, resulting in an overall decrease prices for our customers… The scale, goal and flexibility of the Moss Landing Megapack formula make it a benchmark in large-scale battery progression and deployment.
If the Moss Landing is upgraded to a capacity of 1.2 GW as planned, the capacity of your garage will be approximately ten times that of Australia’s Hornsdale Power, the former record holder and some other Tesla project. The world’s largest lithium-ion garage formula is stocking Pelham station in the UK, with a capacity of 50 MW.
The battery fleet structure at Moss Landing promises greater flexibility for maximum grid demand and load easition for variable production of renewable energy sources. PG-E anticipates that the Tesla Megapack formula will save consumers more than $100 million during the 20-year lifetime of the allocation for expected local capacity needs and required source prices in the absence of installation.
At the heart of the new PG-E formula is Tesla’s Megapack of Application Batteries. Each unit has a capacity of 3 MWh and has the modular capacity to “stack” up to a 1 GWh site. The battery requires 40% less area and 10 times fewer servings than existing formulas on the market. According to Tesla, this high-density modular battery can be installed 10 times faster than existing formulas. Tesla hopes that its megapacks will one day update the network’s inefficient “peak” plants, which are activated in periods of peak demand at the best prices for utilities and consumers.
Increased investment through utilities in renewable energy and battery garage technologies bode a tricky path for fuel and coal companies, and the question of how nuclear power can compete remains open. E just this week, oil and fuel giant BP reported a quarterly loss of $16.8 billion, halving its dividend. In response, the company announced a new “green change” that would see its oil and fuel production decline by 40% over the next decade and its investments in renewable energy increased 10 times over the same period. Companies such as BP and PG-E are responding to the development of social and market pressures similar to climate substitution, adding a decrease in garage and renewable energy costs. Before our eyes there is a great evolution of the electricity industry.
With Ali Plucinski’s
I am a senior member of the Atlantic Council and senior founder of International Market Analysis, a global threat consulting firm in Washington, DC. I advise you