Tesla said it will work with Irish renewable energy firm Gaelectric on a trial to develop a pipeline of multiple-battery projects in the country, with an initial 1MW demonstration project due for deployment next year.
The project will pilot the utility-scale technology, which consists of 100kWh battery blocks grouped together to create powerpacks of between 500kWh and 10MWh. These packs will be used to help build new transmission systems in Ireland to facilitate the integration of renewable energy sources.
Investigation into other European markets will also form part of the collaboration. No information has been released on a possible deal in the UK.
Gaelectric head of energy storage Keith McGrane described the accelerating pace of storage technology development and application as “truly astounding”.
He added that many of the developments are around “incorporating greater amounts of renewable power” at the same time as “protecting the stability of our transmission systems and controlling costs”.
“Tesla is the vanguard for the revolution that is currently underway,” he said.
Tesla created a media storm with the release of its energy storage Powerwall battery last month, claiming it would “wean the world off fossil fuels”. Green groups and experts called it a “utility-killer” and professor of energy policy at Exeter University Catherine Mitchell described the potential for competitive energy storage as “another nail in the coffin of conventional utilities”.
Chiltern Power director John Scott told Utility Week that if 5 per cent of UK customers buy Tesla Motors’ Powerwall battery, decentralised energy storage capacity would increase to 10.5 GWh.
Institution of Engineering and Technology Energy Policy Panel chair Simon Harrison said battery storage technology, such as Tesla’s Powerwall batteries, will be “really important” in allowing distribution network operators (DNOs) to avoid increasing network capacity in the future.
Read Utility Week’s analysis of Tesla’s batteries here.