Pacific Gas and Electric commissions 182.5 MW Tesla battery energy storage system for substation

This week, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) began service from its 182.5 MW Elkhorn Battery system, making the new addition to the Moss Landing electric substation in California’s Monterey County now one of the largest lithium-ion systems on earth.

Elkhorn’s proper name is the Tesla Megapack battery energy storage system, or BESS. Designed, constructed, and maintained jointly by PG&E and Tesla, it is nevertheless owned and operated by PG&E. Its 256 battery units were fully energized earlier this month after approval from the California Independent System Operator (CAISO). After approximately two years of construction, it brings PG&E the capability to store and dispatch up to 730 MW hours of energy to the electrical grid, at a max rate of 182.5 MW for up to four hours.

“We are ushering in a new era of electric system reliability and delivering a vision into the future for our customers with the commissioning of the Tesla Megapack system in Moss Landing,” Patti Poppe, PG&E CEO, said. “We are committed to safely delivering reliable and clean energy in a way that achieves the greatest value for our customers, but we can’t go it alone into this clean energy future. Projects like this require innovative partners, such as Tesla, and PG&E will continue to seek out and work with the best and brightest to provide breakthrough clean energy solutions for our customers.”

The addition of Elkhorn is one of several storage systems to be commissioned by PG&E between now and 2024, totaling 3,300 MW of pending capacity for California. Additionally, the company noted that such systems will help integrate renewable energy resources and enhance the overall reliability of California’s grid. They tend to be tapped when additional capacity is needed during periods of high demand and charged when that demand is low.