Connect with us

Energy

Tesla aids Sydney’s 50% renewable energy goal with new Powerpack installation

[Credit: Dominic Lorrimer/The Sydney Morning Herald]

Published

on

Tesla’a industrial-grade Powerpack batteries have been deployed on Sydney’s new renewable energy project at the Alexandra Canal transport depot. The installation, comprised of 1,600 solar panels and a 500 KWh Tesla Powerpack battery system, was opened by Lord Mayor Clover Moore on Wednesday.

The Alexandra Canal transport depot system is part of Sydney’s ongoing initiative to power half the city with renewable energy. In a statement to The Sydney Morning Herald, the Lord mayor stated that there are other, similar projects in the pipeline.

“We’re working towards a target of 50% of all electricity in the City of Sydney area to come from renewables by 2030. To help us achieve that target, we’re covering the roofs of our properties with as many solar panels as possible. By mid-2021, we expect to have more than 7800 solar panels on the roofs of our properties (approximately 1.5 MWh of battery storage across the city’s buildings). As the mix of storage and generation on our electricity grid changes, solar solutions like this could provide reliability and resilience to our electricity network and potentially prevent blackouts,” she said.

As an added note, Lord Mayor Moore stated that with the system in place, the Alexandra Canal transport depot could be classified as a carbon-neutral facility, saving roughly ~600 tonnes in carbon dioxide emissions per year.

Just like the immensely successful Tesla Powerpack farm near Jamestown in South Australia, the Alexandra Canal system will be tasked to provide backup power to the depot as necessary, allowing the facility to reduce its demand on the grid during peak times. The usage of the solar panels and Powerpack batteries are set to be remotely managed in real-time by TransGrid, a local electricity transmission group which awarded the Alexandra Canal transport depot contract to the Elon Musk-led company last year. In a statement to the publication, TransGrid chief executive Paul Italiano stated that large-scale batteries such as Tesla’s Powerpacks would be playing a more prominent role in Sydney’s energy network in the years to come. 

Advertisement

“This initiative with the City of Sydney will afford the depot a significant amount of energy self-sufficiency while also sharing benefits with the wider community through the electricity network,” he said.  

Solar panels installed at the Alexandra Canal Depot are supported by Tesla Powerpack batteries.

 

While Tesla’s energy business recently saw the closure of 12 solar facilities across the United States as part of the company’s ongoing workforce restructuring, the company’s energy projects continue to gain ground abroad. As noted by Elon Musk, Tesla Energy has approximately 11,000 ongoing projects in Puerto Rico, where the company continues to help the island nation get back on their feet after getting ravaged by Hurricane Maria last year. Tesla was also involved in providing stable electricity for the first time in a remote area in the Philippines.

Tesla’s Powerpacks are starting to become the battery storage solution of choice for high-profile businesses across the globe as well. Earlier this year, Manchester Science Partnerships (MSP), one of the UK’s most prominent science and technology park operators, opted to install Powerpacks on its headquarters. In the Middle East, Bee’ah CEO Khaled Al Huraimel noted that their upcoming, futuristic, headquarters in Sharjah would also be using Tesla Powerpack batteries, together with a fleet of 50 Tesla Semis for their everyday operations.

After the successful rollout of the 129 MWh Powerpack farm in South Australia, Victoria, another state in the country, has also pursued a contract with the Elon Musk-led company to install a 20 MWh Powerpack system. A massive 650 MWh virtual power plant for South Australia, comprised of solar panels and Tesla Powerwall 2 batteries installed in 50,000 homes, has also begun the first phase of its rollout.

Earlier this month, Tesla CTO JB Straubel noted that the company has been able to deploy 1 GWh worth of energy projects to date. During the 2018 Annual Shareholder Meeting, CEO Elon Musk stated that Tesla would “do another Gigawatt project” within the next 12 months, with the rate of stationary storage deployment exponentially growing every year.

Advertisement

“For many years to come, each incremental year will be about as much as all the preceding years, which is a crazy, crazy growth rate,” Musk said.

Simon is an experienced automotive reporter with a passion for electric cars and clean energy. Fascinated by the world envisioned by Elon Musk, he hopes to make it to Mars (at least as a tourist) someday. For stories or tips--or even to just say a simple hello--send a message to his email, simon@teslarati.com or his handle on X, @ResidentSponge.

Advertisement
Comments

Energy

Tesla’s new Megablock system can power 400,000 homes in under a month

Tesla also unveiled the Megapack 3, the latest iteration of its flagship utility scale battery.

Published

on

Credit: Tesla

Tesla has unveiled the Megablock and Megapack 3, the latest additions to its industrial-scale battery storage solution lineup. 

The products highlight Tesla Energy’s growing role in the company, as well as the division’s growing efforts to provide sustainable energy solutions for industrial-scale applications.

Megablock targets speed and scale

During the “Las Megas” event in Las Vegas, Tesla launched Megablock, a pre-engineered medium-voltage block designed to integrate Megapack 3 units in a plug-and-play system. Capable of 20 MWh AC with a 25-year life cycle and more than 10,000 cycles, the Megablock could achieve 91% round-trip efficiency at medium voltage, inclusive of auxiliary loads.

Tesla emphasized that Megablock can be installed 23% faster with up to 40% lower construction costs. The platform eliminates above-ground cabling through a new flexible busbar assembly and delivers site-level density of 248 MWh per acre. With Megablock, Tesla is also aiming to commission 1 GWh in just 20 business days, or enough to power 400,000 homes in less than a month. 

“With Megablock, we are targeting to commission 1 GWh in 20 business days, which is the equivalent of bringing power to 400,000 homes in less than a month. It’s crazy. How are we planning to do that? Like most things at Tesla, we are ruthlessly attacking every opportunity to save our customers time, simplify the process, remove steps, (and) automate as much as we can,” the company said. 

Advertisement

Megapack 3 is all about simplicity

The Megapack 3 is Tesla’s next-generation utility battery, designed with a simplified architecture that cuts 78% of connections compared to the previous version. Its thermal bay is drastically simplified, and it uses a Model Y heat pump on steroids. The battery weighs about 86,000 pounds and holds 5 MWh of usable AC energy. Tesla engineers incorporated a larger battery module and a new 2.8-liter LFP cell co-developed with the company’s cell team.

The Megapack 3 is designed for serviceability, and it features easier front access and no roof penetrations. About 75% of Megapack 3’s total mass is battery cells, with individual modules weighing as much as a Cybertruck. It’s also tough, with an ambient operating temperature range from -40C to 60C. This should allow the Megapack 3 to operate optimally from the coldest to the hottest regions on the planet.

Production is set to begin at Tesla’s Houston Megafactory in late 2026, with planned capacity of 50 GWh per year. Additional supply will come from Tesla’s 7 GWh LFP facility in Nevada, which is expected to open in 2025, as well as with third-party partners.

Continue Reading

Energy

Tesla Energy is the world’s top global battery storage system provider again

Tesla Energy captured 15% of the battery storage segment’s global market share in 2024.

Published

on

Credit: Tesla

Tesla Energy held its top position in the global battery energy storage system (BESS) integrator market for the second consecutive year, capturing 15% of global market share in 2024, as per Wood Mackenzie’s latest rankings.

Tesla Energy’s lead, however, is shrinking, as Chinese competitors like Sungrow are steadily increasing their global footprint, particularly in European markets.

Tesla Energy dominates in North America, but its lead is narrowing globally

Tesla Energy retained its leadership in the North American market with a commanding 39% share in 2024. Sungrow, though still ranked second in the region, saw its share drop from 17% to 10%. Powin took third place, even if the company itself filed for bankruptcy earlier this year, as noted in a Solar Power World report. 

On the global stage, Tesla Energy’s lead over Sungrow shrank from four points in 2023 to just one in 2024, indicating intensifying competition. Chinese firm CRRC came in third worldwide with an 8% share.

Wood Mackenzie ranked vendors based on MWh shipments with recognized revenue in 2024. According to analyst Kevin Shang, “Competition among established BESS integrators remains incredibly intense. Seven of the top 10 vendors last year struggled to expand their market share, remaining either unchanged or declining.”

Advertisement

Chinese integrators surge in Europe, falter in U.S.

China’s influence on the BESS market continues to grow, with seven of the global top 10 BESS integrators now headquartered in the country. Chinese companies saw a 67% year-over-year increase in European market share, and four of the top 10 BESS vendors in Europe are now based in China. In contrast, Chinese companies’ market share in North America dropped more than 30%, from 23% to 16% amid Tesla Energy’s momentum and the Trump administration’s policies.

Wood Mackenzie noted that success in the global BESS space will hinge on companies’ ability to adapt to divergent regulations and geopolitical headwinds. “The global BESS integrator landscape is becoming increasingly complex, with regional trade policies and geopolitical tensions reshaping competitive dynamics,” Shang noted, pointing to Tesla’s maintained lead and the rapid ascent of Chinese rivals as signs of a shifting industry balance.

“While Tesla maintains its global leadership, the rapid rise of Chinese integrators in Europe and their dominance in emerging markets like the Middle East signals a fundamental shift in the industry. Success will increasingly depend on companies’ ability to navigate diverse regulatory environments, adapt to local market requirements, and maintain competitive cost structures across multiple regions,” the analyst added.

Continue Reading

Energy

Tesla inks multi-billion-dollar deal with LG Energy Solution to avoid tariff pressure

Tesla has reportedly secured a sizable partnership with LGES for LFP cells, and there’s an extra positive out of it.

Published

on

Credit: Tesla

Tesla has reportedly inked a multi-billion-dollar deal with LG Energy Solution in an effort to avoid tariff pressure and domesticate more of its supply chain.

Reuters is reporting that Tesla and LGES, a South Korean battery supplier of the automaker, signed a $4.3 billion deal for energy storage system batteries. The cells are going to be manufactured by LGES at its U.S. factory located in Michigan, the report indicates. The batteries will be the lithium iron phosphate, or LFP, chemistry.

Tesla delivers 384,000 vehicles in Q2 2025, deploys 9.6 GWh in energy storage

It is a move Tesla is making to avoid buying cells and parts from overseas as the Trump White House continues to use tariffs to prioritize domestic manufacturing.

LGES announced earlier today that it had signed a $4.3 billion contract to supply LFP cells over three years to a company, but it did not identify the customer, nor did the company state whether the batteries would be used in automotive or energy storage applications.

The deal is advantageous for both companies. Tesla is going to alleviate its reliance on battery cells that are built out of the country, so it’s going to be able to take some financial pressure off itself.

For LGES, the company has reported that it has experienced slowed demand for its cells in terms of automotive applications. It planned to offset this demand lag with more projects involving the cells in energy storage projects. This has been helped by the need for these systems at data centers used for AI.

During the Q1 Earnings Call, Tesla CFO Vaibhav Taneja confirmed that the company’s energy division had been impacted by the need to source cells from China-based suppliers. He went on to say that the company would work on “securing additional supply chain from non-China-based suppliers.”

It seems as if Tesla has managed to secure some of this needed domestic supply chain.

Continue Reading

Trending