Green Mountain Power has announced it is doubling its investment in battery energy storage.
The company was the first to deploy Tesla Powerwalls in a virtual power plant in the US.
Tesla has been hiring in preparation for starting a retail electricity business in Texas.
Green Mountain Power currently has a deployed capacity of 30 MW. The new investment will increase the capacity to 55 MW.
The project powers both residential and industrial applications.
Six communities will benefit from the increased capacity, and installation will occur within the next two years. Existing customers number over 250,000, according to Energy Storage News.
The first VPP by Green Mountain Power was in 2017, when it started selling power wholesale. It has since welcome other firms into its program in a BYOD (battery storage equipment) scheme.
Customers can buy batteries and get paid in exchange for using the batteries to meet demand during peak periods.
The company claims it can help customers save about $3 million annually. It also helped to balance demand during heatwaves in July in the US.
Tesla hosted its second successful VPP event in California in August, where it successfully provided extra power to the state’s grid during a heatwave. The company’s Miyakojima VPP in Japan has grown to over 300 homes.
