100% renewable energy: Hawaii adds 1 gigawatt-hour of battery storage (Mostly Tesla Megapacks)

The state of Hawai’i has set a goal of getting 100% of its electricity from renewable energy sources by 2045. Clearly, in order to reach that goal, grid-scale battery storage will be required. Now Hawaiian Electric, which supplies electricity to 95% of Hawai’i residents, says it is looking at installing up to 1 gigawatt-hour of battery storage. According to the Honolulu Star Advertiser, a major portion of that storage may be supplied by 244 Megapacks from Tesla located on 6 acres of land adjacent to its Kahe power plant in Nanakuli. Other smaller storage facilities are planned for other locations on Oahu, Maui, and Hawai’i. The Tesla Megapack was introduced last year and has a maximum capacity of 3 megawatt-hours (MWh). Tesla says it takes up 40% less space than a conventional battery storage system would need. “Every Megapack arrives pre-assembled and pre-tested in one enclosure from our Gigafactory — including battery modules, bi-directional inverters, a thermal management system, an AC main breaker and controls. No assembly is required, all you need to do is connect Megapack’s AC output to your site wiring.” With regard to that last point, Hawaiian Electric has carefully chosen the location for the Megapacks so it will be next to an existing major grid connection point.