TransAlta, an electricity power generator and wholesale marketing company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, is currently installing Tesla’s Megapacks at one of their windfarm locations in southern Alberta.
The Summerview Windfarm in Pincher Creek will be Alberta’s first utility-scale lithium-ion battery storage facility. Construction began at the site in March, and is expected to be complete later this month.
Once up and running, the Megapacks will store up to 20MWh of energy, with a 10MW power capacity. The Tesla Megapack will store energy from the Summerview Wind Farm, and then discharge it into the Alberta Electricity Grid during high-peak demand.
According to Transalta, the facility will store enough energy to power the whole Municipal District of Pincher Creek for 1.5 hours in one charge.
For several years, Transalta has been investigating the viability of battery storage at their windfarms across the province. The Summerview Wind Farm was selected to be the first due to its “many desirable features, which are conducive to siting a battery storage facility of this nature.”
It is not the first location in Canada to utilize Tesla’s Megapacks. Earlier this year we told you about a project by Saint John Energy, which installed a 1.25 megawatt battery pack. Saint John Energy hopes to save more than $15,000 per month with the installation.
