With just a touch of a button on your smartphone, you, too, can assimilate into a regional power plant from your garage.
All around the nation, a flurry of virtual power plants (VPP) has been making news. Comprised entirely of distributed residential energy storage, these plants stabilize the grid and often eliminate the need for new fossil peaker plants.
Starting July 22, if you have a Tesla Powerwall and app installed, you can “Opt-In” to the California Tesla Virtual Power Plant. The company page notes the project is currently being offered with no compensation and is being used as a public service during the current California power grid challenges.
The Tesla VPP website also said that as many as 50,000 Powerwalls are available to create “the largest distributed battery system in the world.” Most of the Tesla Powerwalls that are installed are 5 kW/13.5 kWh, suggesting a maximum potential capacity of 250 MW/675 MWh.
Data collated by the California Solar & Storage Association from the California ISO power grid suggests that in 2020 alone, 165 MW/428 MWh of distributed energy storage was installed. Since 2011, the data shows 530 MW of distributed energy storage connected, suggesting a total stored capacity approaching 1,500 MWh.
Tesla has experience with networked VPPs. Its South Australia plant has a 50,000 unit goal, and is almost 10% deployed. That plant has been given credit for supporting the broader powergrid during complex events.
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