Tesla to partner with NY utility company on battery storage system
Orange and Rockland Utilities, a utility provider that is part of Consolidated Edison, Inc., recently submitted a proposal to collaborate with Tesla in the creation of a battery storage solution for New York residents. With the system in place, O&R expects its customers to see up to a 70% reduction in the demand charges on their electricity bills.
The Consolidated Edison utility provider submitted the proposal for the project on February 6 to the New York Public Service Commission. If the initiative does get approved, Tesla would be working closely with the utility provider to develop multi-use strategies that balance dispatch among stakeholder groups, including consumers who would be participating in the project.
Orange & Rockland further teased that the project would involve the creation of two 2 MW/4 MWh portfolios. One of these battery installations would be deployed to service commercial and industrial sites while the other would be built at one or two ongoing solar projects. Tesla would be tasked with the development of the battery system that will be used in the project.
In a statement to the American Public Power Association, O&R described how it would collaborate with the Elon Musk-led electric car maker and energy firm to complete and eventually operate the proposed project.
“These strategies will be guided by algorithms and protocols, designed by Tesla, to deliver optimal dispatch for the aggregated portfolio, maximizing the portfolio value among customers, the distribution grid, and Tesla. Under this demonstration, the flexible operating characteristics of distributed energy storage will be employed to obtain the highest value use of the resource at any point in time.”
If approved, O&R expects the NY battery storage system to earn up to $788,000 annually. From these earnings, 90% of the wholesale market revenue will be given to O&R to offset the project’s cost, while the remaining 10% will be given to Tesla. Overall, the Edison Consolidated utility provider remains optimistic about the proposed battery storage system.
“When energy storage is deployed for multiple value streams, the amount of value and revenue generated on a per unit basis increases to capture previously idle storage capacity for productive use. This additional revenue means that multi-use applications of energy storage can be economically viable in locations where single-use applications are not,” the utility provider stated, according to the APPA.
If approved, Tesla and O&R’s NY battery project will be part of the Reforming the Energy Vision (REV), a comprehensive energy strategy started by New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, which aims to promote and foster the adoption of clean energy in the state.
Tesla’s participation in the proposed NY battery solution comes at a time when the California-based electric car and energy company is attempting to increase its saturation of the energy sector. In Tesla’s recently released Q4 earnings report, the Elon Musk-led firm stated that it is aiming to deploy at least three times the storage capacity it rolled out in 2017. Tesla seeks to accomplish this by engaging in energy projects, both local and abroad.
As we noted in a recent report, Tesla is attempting to build a massive 250 MW/650 MWh virtual power plant in South Australia using residential solar panels and its Powerwall home battery pack. Tesla’s Powerpack Farm at the Hornsdale wind farm near Jamestown also continues to exceed expectations, providing backup power to the region’s beleaguered energy grid since starting its operations late last year.