Tesla’s first energy storage super factory project outside of the United States has completed construction permit issuance today.
Not just cars. Tesla, which produces and sells new energy vehicles, has recently transformed into a “catfish” and entered the new energy storage industry.
According to the official WeChat account of the Lingang New Area Management Committee of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone (hereinafter referred to as the “Shanghai Lingang Management Committee Official WeChat”) on May 13th, the construction permit for Tesla’s Shanghai Energy Storage Super Factory project has been issued.
This is Tesla’s first energy storage super factory project outside of the United States, located near Tesla’s Shanghai super factory.
“The growth rate of Tesla’s energy storage business in 2024 will be much higher than that of its electric vehicle business,” Musk said at the fourth quarter financial report at the end of last year.
According to the company’s previous official announcement, Tesla’s Shanghai energy storage factory plans to start construction in May this year and achieve mass production in the first quarter of next year.
The initial plan for this project is to produce 10000 commercial energy storage batteries annually, with a storage capacity of nearly 40GWh. According to data from GGII, the shipment volume of energy storage lithium batteries in China in 2022 was 130 GWh, which means that the production capacity of Tesla’s super energy storage factory is equivalent to one-third of China’s 2022 shipment volume of energy storage lithium batteries.
According to the official WeChat account of Shanghai Lingang Management Committee, the project covers a total area of about 200000 square meters and has a total investment of about 1.45 billion yuan. Since the determination of investment intention in December last year, Lingang New Area has been using the newly launched project service package in the field of engineering construction.
The official WeChat account of the Shanghai Lingang Management Committee stated that in the future, Tesla’s Shanghai Energy Storage Super Factory will produce ultra large commercial energy storage batteries (Megapacks) to help power grid operators, utility companies, and others store and distribute renewable energy more efficiently. More than 200 ultra large commercial energy storage batteries (Megapacks) can form an energy storage power plant, storing 1 million kilowatt hours of electricity.
The layout of Tesla, the first energy storage super factory project outside the United States, can be traced back to a year ago.
On April 9, 2023, Tesla signed a contract with Lingang New Area for the Tesla Energy Storage Super Factory project. On December 22 of that year, Tesla held a land acquisition signing ceremony with the Lingang New Area Management Committee in Shanghai, announcing the start of the Tesla Energy Storage Super Factory project.
Not only does it produce and sell new energy vehicles, but the industry also refers to Tesla as the “catfish” of the new energy storage industry. It is reported that Tesla’s Megapack, which will soon be manufactured in Lingang, Shanghai, can store over 3.9 MWh of energy per unit, meet the hourly electricity demand of 3600 households, and meet the demand from a 1 MWh small microgrid to a GWh+level large-scale power project.
According to the “2024 Global Energy Storage Industry Development Blue Book” released by the industry consulting firm Qidian Research Institute, the global shipment volume of lithium-ion energy storage systems in 2023 was about 192GWh, with the top five companies in terms of shipment ranking being Sunshine Power, BYD, Tesla, CRRC Zhuzhou Institute, and Fluence, with Tesla ranking third.
Tesla stated that Megapack, a super large commercial energy storage battery, has been using renewable energy to supplement and ensure local electricity in North America, Asia Pacific, Europe and other regions.
The installed capacity of new energy storage power stations in China continues to grow. According to data from the National Energy Administration, as of the end of 2023, the cumulative installed capacity of new energy storage projects that have been built and put into operation in China is 31.39 million kilowatts/66.87 million kilowatt hours, with an average energy storage time of 2.1 hours. The newly installed capacity in 2023 is approximately 22.6 million kilowatts/48.7 million kilowatt hours, an increase of nearly three times compared to the end of 2022.