Tesla Virtual Power Plant - Stage 2 & 3

Tesla's plan will see 50,000+ homes have solar PV and a Powerwall battery system installed, creating the world's largest Virtual Power Plant (VPP)

The Customer 

Tesla’s mission statement is “to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy”. To create a sustainable energy ecosystem, Tesla manufactures a range of Electric vehicles and a number  of energy generation and storage solutions, including Powerwall and Solar Roof products; enabling homeowners, businesses, and utilities to manage renewable energy generation, storage, and consumption.

The Opportunity 

With support from other stakeholders, Tesla is developing a network of potentially 50,000 home solar PV and Powerwall battery systems across both regional and metropolitan South Australia – all working together to form the world’s largest Virtual Power Plant (VPP).

SA VPP is designed to provide more affordable, reliable and secure electricity for all South Australians, while increasing homeowners’ visibility of their energy use, and supporting South Australia’s transition to a renewables-based economy.

The VPP operator uses WiFi technology and sophisticated software to charge or discharge energy from the batteries and trade it on the National Energy Market (NEM).

With many systems working together, small amounts of energy stored in individual home batteries can become large amounts of energy to help support the grid in times of need. The capacity and power of a VPP can sometimes match or even exceed a traditional power station.

The Solution 

Stage 2 of the Project involves the installation of 5kW of Solar and a Tesla Powerwall2 (5kW/13.5kWh) at 1,100 HousingSA households across South Australia.

The next stage, Stage 3, the project grows to 3,000 HousingSA homes, where a Tesla Powerwall 2 is being installed along with up to 6.5kW of Solar across Adelaide and regional SA.

Enerven has been involved in the coordination and installation of about 50% all Tesla VPP installation, both Solar and Powerwall to date, across both regional and metropolitan South Australia. Tesla required a delivery partner that is able to mobilise quickly with experience in delivering multi-site programs of work.