Power surges are expected due to abnormal heat in the US this year. During these tough times, Tesla launches a beta version of the Tesla Virtual Power Plant (VPP) for Californians. It is a giant distribution utility that allows customers to not be dependent on fossil fuel-powered electricity.
Tesla Virtual Power Plant has the world’s largest distributed battery system. The Californian network operator predicts a power abruption and will need support from other operators. Tesla’s battery storage system, Powerwall will be installed in homes while they continue to maintain security despite helping the grid. Powerwall owners can enroll in the Tesla Virtual Power Plant from July 22nd, 2021.
Back in 2019, Tesla virtual power plant located in South Australia did wonders when it was completed only 2%. When Queensland experienced an unexpected power shortage, the virtual power plant came to the rescue by providing power briefly. Eventually, by 2020, Tesla and local energy providers were able to connect 10MW power need to their grids.
Benefits of using Tesla energy
Once the Powerwall is installed, the rest of the expenses are affordable to many. The battery system can provide power to the whole community in blackout situations. Technically, it will be backup power stored in case there is a blackout. Also, whenever the local power system will have the least efficient generators running Then, Tesla will come from the rescue and provide efficient electricity.
Being part of the Tesla community ensures that you have sustainable options, reducing carbon emissions. As every government is working towards goals to achieve zero carbon emission, the virtual plant will allow California citizens to take part. As Tesla aims to have 50,000 Powerwall battery installations, using their battery system would add up.
Interestingly, Elon Musk mentioned the Powerwall solar installations in Q1 2021. In addition to providing electricity, Tesla’s system will help stabilize the entire grid. While a fuel-powered grid could have fluctuations because of certain problems, a grid with a battery system is much stable and is known as a giant distributed utility.
As said by Musk, “There was a peak power demand and that peak power demand, because the grid lacked the ability to buffer the power, they had to shut down power. There’s no power in storage. No good form of power storage. However, with a whole bunch of Powerwalls at houses, we can actually buffer the power. So if the grid needs more power, we can actually then with the consent, obviously, of the homeowner and the partnership with the utility, we can then actually release power onto the grid to take care of peak power demand. So, effectively, the Powerwalls can operate like a giant distributed utility. This is profound.”