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Tesla Powerwalls are expected to power a giant new virtual power plant designed by Swell Energy in Hawaii.
Associated with solar, the battery packs will create a distributed energy system of 80 MW / 100 MWh.
Virtual power plant
A virtual power plant is the process of connecting several small distributed energy assets, such as residential solar panel systems and household battery packs, and using them together to provide larger grid services.
By pooling all this capacity, you can manage it more efficiently and potentially decommission fossil-fueled power 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 has announced that it has reached an agreement with the government to install solar panels and powerwalls on up to 50,000 homes.
Swell’s VPP with Tesla Powerwall in Hawaii
Swell Energy is a longtime Tesla Installation Partner for the Powerwall, and they already have several Virtual Power Plant (VPP) projects with Tesla Powerwalls underway.
Today, the company announced that it has reached an agreement with the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission (PUC) for a massive new VPP project:
“Swell Energy, Inc. today announced that the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has approved its $ 25 million contract with Hawaiian Electric for the provision of various grid services through a ‘Virtual Power Plant’ (VPP) aggregated on three islands. Swell Energy, a California-based smart grid and energy solutions provider, will deploy behind-the-meter solar-powered home batteries to approximately 6,000 residential customers to create a full 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 needed to support Hawaiian Electric’s clean energy goals in all three islands. Providing this level of capacity and ancillary services sets a new standard for virtual power plants and builds on Swell Energy’s deployments across the continental United States. This fleet of distributable energy resources benefits the utility and allows customers to save money and come together to form a more resilient network ”.
This new project will join Swell’s other VPP projects, like those in Orange County, Santa Barbara and Redwood Coast, which also use Tesla Powerwalls, but it is expected to become its largest virtual powerhouse to date.
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