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Tesla Unveils New Large Powerpack Project For Grid Balancing In Europe (electrek.co)

Tesla has unveiled a new large Powerpack energy storage project to be used as a virtual power plant for grid balancing in Europe. It consists of 140 Powerpacks and several Tesla inverters for a total power output of 18.2 MW. Electrek reports: Tesla partnered with Restore, a demand response aggregator, to build the system and offer balancing services to European transmission system operators. Instead of using gas generators and steam turbines kicking to compensate for losses of power on the grid, Tesla's batteries are charged when there's excess power and then discharge when there's a need for more power.

Restore UK Vice President Louis Burford told The Energyst that they are bundling their assets like batteries as a "synthetic pool": "By creating synthetic pools or portfolios, you reduce the technical requirements on individual assets that otherwise would not be able to participate [in certain balancing services]. By doing so you create value where it does not ordinarily exist. That is only achievable through synthetic portfolios."
For those interested, Tesla has released promo video on YouTube about the project.

1 of 99 comments (clear)

  1. Re:If I owned Nat Gas Turbines.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    The purpose of gas turbines is to create power. That's just not relevant. The purpose of the grid is to award certain companies with money for installing wind while getting politicians re-elected for greenwashing and destroying the nuclear infrastructure. Fortunately this gives Musk an opportunity to dig into your pockets, as destroying rotating mass and replacing it with wind destabilizes the grid.

    Yes, I know, wind has a lot of rotating mass, but it unfortunately serves to destabilize the grid, not stabilize it, as they generally use induction generators. So good for Tesla shareholders, and good for the greenwashing politicians, but sucks for the people who actually have to pay for electricity.