Tesla plugs big batteries into PG&E’s electric grid
http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Tesla-plugs-big-batteries-into-PG-E-s-electric-10936052.php
Source: By David R. Baker, San Francisco Chronicle
For Investigation: 10.3
Excerpt: A row of tall white boxes by the side of a Sierra foothills highway could represent a key piece of California’s future electric grid. Made by Tesla, the boxes contain thousands of battery cells — the same cells that power Tesla’s luxury cars. But at this installation, at a Pacific Gas and Electric Co. substation in Browns Valley (Yuba County), the batteries soak up electricity whenever it’s cheap and feed it back onto the grid when demand hits its daily peak. The project, operational since the start of the month, represents a collaboration between PG&E and Tesla on one of California’s biggest energy goals: storage. As part of the fight against climate change, California is adding solar power at a rapid clip, at times flooding the grid with more renewable power than it needs. That flood ebbs by late afternoon, when the demand for electricity hits its peak. So state regulators have ordered utilities to invest in projects to store energy when it’s plentiful and use it when it’s needed most. ...PG&E has long experience with energy storage. Its Helms Pumped Storage Plant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helms_Pumped_Storage_Plant, which opened in 1984, uses water flowing through tunnels between two mountain reservoirs at different elevations to store up to 1,212 megawatts of electricity....
Source: By David R. Baker, San Francisco Chronicle
For Investigation: 10.3
Excerpt: A row of tall white boxes by the side of a Sierra foothills highway could represent a key piece of California’s future electric grid. Made by Tesla, the boxes contain thousands of battery cells — the same cells that power Tesla’s luxury cars. But at this installation, at a Pacific Gas and Electric Co. substation in Browns Valley (Yuba County), the batteries soak up electricity whenever it’s cheap and feed it back onto the grid when demand hits its daily peak. The project, operational since the start of the month, represents a collaboration between PG&E and Tesla on one of California’s biggest energy goals: storage. As part of the fight against climate change, California is adding solar power at a rapid clip, at times flooding the grid with more renewable power than it needs. That flood ebbs by late afternoon, when the demand for electricity hits its peak. So state regulators have ordered utilities to invest in projects to store energy when it’s plentiful and use it when it’s needed most. ...PG&E has long experience with energy storage. Its Helms Pumped Storage Plant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helms_Pumped_Storage_Plant, which opened in 1984, uses water flowing through tunnels between two mountain reservoirs at different elevations to store up to 1,212 megawatts of electricity....