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Tesla Hornsdale Battery delivers inertia services at scale

Credit: Neoen Australia

Neoen Australia thanked its partners, including Tesla, for collaborating on the Hornsdale battery’s latest achievement.

The Hornsdale Power Reserve is delivering inertia services at scale to the grid. It uses Tesla energy storage units to store and regulate renewable energy in South Australia. The Hornsdale battery was the largest battery in the world when it was first built.

What is Inertia?

A Paul Denholm et al. study defines inertia as the energy stored in large rotating generators or some industrial motors. Inertia services can contribute to the reliability or stability of a power system. 

During system failures, inertia gives systems time to respond and rebalance supply demand. Rotating electrical generators from fossil, nuclear, and hyrdoelectric power plants produce inertia. New sources of electricity generation—like solar and wind—do not inherently provide inertia because they do not rely on conventional generators. Solar, wind, and other forms of electricity generation are also called variable generation (VG).

“As VG penetration increases and conventional generators are displaced, the grid will need to be planned and operated differently to maintain reliability,” stated the study. 

Tesla’s Inertia Services

In 2020, the Hornsdale Power Reserve upgraded its Tesla energy storage units. The upgrade introduced new services, such as “virtual inertia,” which Tesla refers to as “Virtual Machine Mode (VMM).” 

Tesla designed VMM to emulate mechanical inertia from traditional electrical generators. As of this writing, Tesla claims the Hornsdale Power Reserve can provide up to 3,000 megawatt-seconds of inertia, using Virtual Machine Mode

Virtual Machine Mode is just one of several software services Tesla Energy offers to its energy storage customers. It also offers Autobidder, Powerhub, Microgram Controller, and Opticaster.

Read Denholm et al.’s study below!

Tesla Hornsdale Battery the first to deliver inertia services at scale by Maria Merano on Scribd

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Tesla Hornsdale Battery delivers inertia services at scale
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