Tesla has nine massive solar projects awaiting regulatory approval before being built at its gigafactories.
Tesla made headlines yesterday after announcing that Iits solar and energy storage businesses have seen significant growth in the third quarter and over the past year. And while the company is often known as a provider of renewable energy sources, it has also implemented them in each of its US-based gigafactories. Of the 14 power projects being built at Tesla facilities, nine are pending regulatory approval, two are under construction, and three have been completed and will begin power generation soon.
Each month, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) publishes a list of all current and upcoming energy generation and storage projects in the United States. most recent report as of September this year, most Tesla projects are being built at Tesla facilities.
The vast majority of Tesla’s energy projects are pending regulatory approval, and of those, most are planned for Giga Texas. The EIA lists 5 Tesla solar projects in Giga-Texas, totaling up to 8.6 MWh of generation. Tesla’s Freemont facility has one solar project pending approval with a capacity of 0.4 MWh, and Giga-Nevada has three projects pending approval with a total output of 8 MWh.
The EIA report also includes many Tesla projects in production for Tesla customers. A 6.4 MWh solar project for the Berrenda Mesa Water District in California and a 4.5 MWh solar project for the University of the Pacific in California are both listed as “construction completed but not in commercial operation.”
Interestingly, Tesla has not been named in any energy storage projects in the United States, even though many megapacks are currently installed across the country. Perhaps most famously, a Megapack is now start of operations in Hawaii, helping the island end coal-fired power generation. This could be because Tesla supplies the batteries instead of building them, but the report was unclear on the supply of the battery systems.
As noted by Elon Musk in yesterday’s earnings call, Tesla’s energy division will become increasingly critical as the company continues to grow. And with such consistent growth over the past four quarters, it’s certainly hard to argue with him.
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