The process of reducing usage during heavy load times is known as demand management and will mean the batteries are remotely managed,in real time,by electricity transmission groupTransGrid.
It is the first installation as part of a wider trial that aims to install 1.5-megawatt hours of battery storage capacity across council buildings in Sydney,as part of a plan to make at least half of the city powered by renewable sources.
She said this installation will allow the depot to be classified as carbon neutral,and save about 600 tonnes in carbon dioxide emissions annually.
CEO of Transgrid,Paul Italiano,shows lord mayor Clover Moore the new Tesla Battery installed at the Alexandra Canal Depot.Credit:Dominic Lorrimer
TransGrid chief executive Paul Italiano said large-scale batteries,such as the Alexandra installation,will be playing a greater role in the future of Sydney’s electricity network.
“This initiative with the City of Sydney will afford the depot a significant amount of energy self-sufficiency while also sharing benefits with the wider community through the electricity network,” Mr Italiano said.
“By partnering with a site where this service is needed,we can support the City of Sydney’s renewable energy goals and reduce the cost of the council’s depot.”
This is the first Tesla battery to be installed by a government in NSW,following similar installations South Australian and Victorian governments.
Late last year the South Australian government worked with Tesla to install the largest single lithium-ion battery unit in the world. It is 100 megawatts in size and able to provide power to about 30,000 homes.
In Victoria,two batteries will provide a combined energy storage capacity of 80-megawatt hours,which can power 20,000 homes for an hour.
The Grattan Institute’s energy director Tony Wood said there will only be an expansion of this type of technology as Australia develops more renewable generation.
“This is the perfect example of managing fluctuation in demand,as it can provide a very fast response when clouds are over the solar panels or demand levels spike,” Mr Wood told Fairfax Media.
“We saw evidence of the large Tesla battery doing exactly this in South Australia over summer.”