Tesla’s Virtual Power Plant (VPP) beta program in California, a joint power-sharing venture with local utility providers, saw more than 3,500 participants contribute 24MW of power to the local electricity supply during its second grid event on Wednesday (via @SawyerMerritt).
BREAKING: @Tesla's second ever California Virtual Power Plant beta event just ended with great success!
Over 3,500 homes with Tesla Powerwalls were selling & pushing up to 24MW of power back to the grid at any given time to reduce stress. @TeslaSolar
This program is awesome!🔋 pic.twitter.com/RaX6ROPgOM
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) September 1, 2022
As part of the VPP program, Tesla Powerwall owners who generate and store their own solar power can collectively sell excess energy back to the local grid during times of high demand. Participants earn about $2 USD for every kWh their Powerwall delivers during an event.
Tesla launched the VPP beta in partnership with Pacific Gas and Electric Company back in June. Before long, the company expanded the program to Southern California with support from South California Edison.
More than 2,600 homes participated in one of the program’s first grid events in mid-August, pushing up to 18MW of power. Wednesday’s event was the largest Tesla Powerwall VPP beta event to date.
Tesla believes VPP programs like the one currently running in California can stabilize power grids when demand is high, clean the grid, and help reduce or avoid blackouts.
A Powerwall-backed Virtual Power Plant program is also piloting in Victoria, Australia, and Tesla has partnered with CenterPoint Energy to debut another in Texas. What’s more, over 300 Tesla Powerwalls currently make up the first and largest commercial VPP in Japan.
If you’re interested in tracking Tesla’s VPP project in California and related grid events, you can do so over at Lastbulb.
