Photo: Tesla on YouTube
Tesla's Gigafactory in Texas is, as the name suggests, massive. This construction sits on more than 2,000 acres of land. It's very important for Elon Musk to have this plant operational at almost all times. Given what's been happening in the Lone Star state when people need more electricity than usual, it's not surprising to see Tesla looking for backup.
The Texas Gigafactory or Giga Texas is slowly turning into the jewel in the crown for the American carmaker. This plant is up-to-standard and will become the main manufacturing and/or assembly point for the awaited Cybertruck. Model Ys have already left the premises. Now it’s time to ramp up production and keep the flow going.
Tesla employees and the company’s robots need power to make sure everything runs smoothly. Texas might be a big state that embraces new businesses, but the investments in updating the power grid are nowhere to be found yet. Elon Musk’s company came up with a workaround. It’s a clever one. It made us wonder why it didn’t happen in the first place.
According to a permit application introduced on Friday and found on the City of Austin’s website, Tesla is looking for approval to extend its power storing capabilities. Essentially, the EV manufacturer wants to install a large number of megapacks that will work along with the already existing solar farm. Weather is unpredictable, and so is the power grid. To avoid any shutdowns or production delays, the well-known automaker wants to have power stored in big cell packs.
This strategy already has been proven to work well for other companies and even cities! The megapacks are infinitely scalable and are considered by Tesla as the "future of renewable energy." It makes total sense. Think about wind and solar. There's no guarantee that wind will blow with the same power every time or that the Sun will keep shining every day. Thus, it's important to have a proper way of storing the captured and transformed energy.
This new Texas buffer will act as an electricity storage system that’ll extend over an extra 53 acres of unused land. Furthermore, it creates the opportunity for train usage – a cheaper, more environmentally-friendly transport option. Tesla really is on its way to becoming the next General Electric.
A megapack stores energy for the grid and eliminates the need for gas peaker plants. It also helps with avoiding outages. "Each unit can store over 3 MWh of energy that's enough energy to power an average of 3,600 homes for one hour," says Tesla.
The initiative isn’t something groundbreaking, as CATL (another battery manufacturer) is currently looking to do the same in North America.
For now, we don’t know if Tesla is planning on using recycled batteries for this new construction. That would be great for the environment and would also show people that EVs really are part of the circular economy. Initiatives like this one will help us all contribute to achieving carbon neutrality.
Tesla employees and the company’s robots need power to make sure everything runs smoothly. Texas might be a big state that embraces new businesses, but the investments in updating the power grid are nowhere to be found yet. Elon Musk’s company came up with a workaround. It’s a clever one. It made us wonder why it didn’t happen in the first place.
According to a permit application introduced on Friday and found on the City of Austin’s website, Tesla is looking for approval to extend its power storing capabilities. Essentially, the EV manufacturer wants to install a large number of megapacks that will work along with the already existing solar farm. Weather is unpredictable, and so is the power grid. To avoid any shutdowns or production delays, the well-known automaker wants to have power stored in big cell packs.
This strategy already has been proven to work well for other companies and even cities! The megapacks are infinitely scalable and are considered by Tesla as the "future of renewable energy." It makes total sense. Think about wind and solar. There's no guarantee that wind will blow with the same power every time or that the Sun will keep shining every day. Thus, it's important to have a proper way of storing the captured and transformed energy.
This new Texas buffer will act as an electricity storage system that’ll extend over an extra 53 acres of unused land. Furthermore, it creates the opportunity for train usage – a cheaper, more environmentally-friendly transport option. Tesla really is on its way to becoming the next General Electric.
A megapack stores energy for the grid and eliminates the need for gas peaker plants. It also helps with avoiding outages. "Each unit can store over 3 MWh of energy that's enough energy to power an average of 3,600 homes for one hour," says Tesla.
The initiative isn’t something groundbreaking, as CATL (another battery manufacturer) is currently looking to do the same in North America.
For now, we don’t know if Tesla is planning on using recycled batteries for this new construction. That would be great for the environment and would also show people that EVs really are part of the circular economy. Initiatives like this one will help us all contribute to achieving carbon neutrality.
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