Everyone knows Elon Musk has his hands full with electric cars and his rockets, but that doesn't stop him from advancing in potentially historic projects. After an official statement calls it a "competitive process", Tesla was the company chosen by the state of California to create a storage platform based on its Powerpack batteries, with a capacity of 20 megawatts. Besides being the largest of its kind in the world, the platform will be installed in three months, thanks to the resources of its Gigafactory.
A Crisis and a Response
On October 23, 2015, the gas leak at the Aliso Canyon storage facility in Los Angeles triggered one of the most significant environmental disasters in recent years. California Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency, and it took almost four months to control the leak. More than 97,000 tons of methane and 7,300 tons of ethane were released into the atmosphere, generating a carbon footprint greater than the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe. Soon after the disaster, authorities decided to close the facility entirely, declaring it "inadequate" for storing fuel. Besides the enormous environmental impact, the leak left Los Angeles on the brink of an energy crisis. Last May, the California Public Utilities Commission ordered the "accelerated procurement" of a backup and storage platform, which must be fully operational before December 31, 2016. The chosen provider is none other than Tesla.
The Tesla Solution
The Tesla batteries will be installed at the Mira Loma substation of subsidiary Southern California Edison, approximately 64 kilometers from Los Angeles. If all goes well, it will be the largest lithium-ion battery backup system on the planet, and Tesla will have it ready in three months with the help of its Gigafactory, which, incredibly, was only 14 percent complete last March. The platform, obviously based on Powerpack batteries, will charge during low-demand periods and activate at peak hours to assist Southern California Edison's electrical infrastructure, which serves 15 million residents.
Looking at more comprehensive numbers, the 20-megawatt platform could provide power to more than 2,500 homes without interruption for 24 hours, or charge 1,000 Tesla cars simultaneously. In casual terms, Tesla will build a "lithium superbuffer" that will respond to sudden changes in consumption in Los Angeles. Winter is coming, and the last thing "The Big Orange" needs are blackouts.
