Tesla Powerwalls are expected to power a new giant virtual power plant designed by Swell Energy in Hawaii.
Combined with solar energy, the batteries will create a distributed energy system of 80 MW / 100 MWh.
Virtual Plant
A virtual power plant consists of connecting several small distributed energy assets, such as residential solar panel systems and home batteries, and using them together to provide larger network services.
By bringing all this capacity together, you can manage it more efficiently and potentially retire fossil fuel plants more quickly.
The concept has become more popular in recent years with the advent of home batteries like the Tesla Powerwall.
One of the most famous virtual power plant projects is in South Australia, where Tesla announced that it has reached an agreement with the government to install solar panels and Powerwalls in up to 50,000 homes.
Swell’s VPP with Tesla Powerwall in Hawaii
Swell Energy is a longtime Tesla installation partner for Powerwall, and they already have several virtual power plant (VPP) projects with Tesla Powerwalls in progress.
Today, the company announced that it has contacted the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission (PUC) for a new massive VPP project:
“Swell Energy, Inc. announced today that the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has approved its $ 25 million contract with Hawaiian Electric for the delivery of various network services through an aggregate“ virtual power plant ”(VPP) on three islands. Swell Energy, a California-based provider of smart grid and power solutions, will deploy home solar-powered batteries to approximately 6,000 residential customers to create a comprehensive VPP on the islands of Oahu, Maui and Hawaii. “
Suleman Khan, CEO of Swell Energy, commented on the announcement:
“An agreement of this scale and scope was necessary to support Hawaiian Electric’s clean energy goals on the three islands. Providing this level of capacity and ancillary services sets a new standard for virtual power plants and is based on Swell Energy deployments across the continent of the United States. This fleet of dispatchable energy resources benefits the concessionaire and allows customers to save money and unite to form a more resilient network ”.
This new project will join other Swell VPP projects, such as those in Orange County, Santa Barbara and Redwood Coast, which also use Tesla Powerwalls, but are expected to become its largest virtual power plant to date.
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