Latest news with #Megapacks
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
PG&E plans to reopen lithium battery plant near Monterey County site burned in toxic fire
Four months after a massive fire ignited in Monterey County at one of the world's largest lithium-ion battery storage facilities, Pacific Gas & Electric said it intends to reactivate an adjacent battery site by June to meet summer energy demands. The plan comes over the objections of county officials who requested that both facilities remain offline until the cause of the January fire in rural Moss Landing is determined. "I had hoped that PG&E would take a more transparent and collaborative approach in addressing the concerns of our surrounding communities, which are still grappling with the fallout of the largest BESS [battery energy storage system] fire in history," Monterey County Supervisor Glenn Church wrote on Facebook on May 8. "Restarting operations before investigations are complete and before stronger emergency protocols are in place is disappointing and deeply troubling," he said. The PG&E facility is one of two battery energy storage systems at the Moss Landing power complex near Monterey Bay. The other is owned by Texas-based Vistra Corp. The batteries store excess energy generated during the day and release it into the power grid during times of high demand, including evening hours. Both facilities have been offline since Jan. 16, when a Vistra-owned building containing 99,000 LG battery modules caught fire, spewing toxic gases into the air and prompting the evacuation of some 1,500 people. The adjacent Elkhorn Battery Energy Storage Facility — which is owned by PG&E and maintained by both the utility company and Tesla — did not burn. But it automatically shut down when its safety equipment detected the fire in the Vistra building. The Elkhorn energy storage facility includes 256 stationary Tesla Megapacks — essentially shipping container-sized units filled with battery modules. The Megapacks, according to PG&E, stand on 33 concrete slaps at the Elkhorn facility. In a May 7 letter to Chris Lopez, chairman of the Monterey County Board of Supervisors, PG&E vice presidents Dave Gabbard and Teresa Alvarado said "Tesla and PG&E have performed extensive inspection and clean-up" at the Elkhorn Facility and intend to restart it by June 1. After the fire, each of the Megapacks was disassembled and vacuum-cleaned, and environmental monitoring was conducted on and around the site, Gabbard and Alvarado wrote. "The Elkhorn Facility, as constructed, allows for efficient storage and use of power," they wrote. "As summer approaches, that power is necessary to effectively manage the demands of the California power grid and to protect PG&E's customers from power limitations and related impacts." A PG&E statement provided to The Times said: "We understand that the safety and well-being of our community is of utmost importance." The battery facility, the statement reads, provides "cost savings for electric customers" and helps "support the state's decarbonization goals." In his May 8 Facebook post, Church, whose district includes Moss Landing, wrote that the Board of Supervisors on Jan. 22 sent a letter to PG&E and Vistra requesting that their facilities not return to operation until 'the cause of the Vistra fire, as well as a previous fire at the PG&E battery storage facility, are determined and appropriately addressed.' Read more: 'Horrifying' fire at California lithium battery plant sparks calls for new clean energy rules That letter, he wrote, also requested that both companies develop "robust emergency response plans — based on a 'catastrophic worst-case scenario' involving full facility conflagration" for the county and other relevant agencies to review. Although emergency response plans are required by law, he added, existing state standards "are limited in scope and do not provide the level of detail or realism" that county officials needed to ensure public safety. "In previous discussions, PG&E indicated that a return to service would not occur until much later this year or beyond," Church wrote. County officials have "expressed concern" about the return to service and have reached out to facility operators to ensure emergency plans "adequately provide for the safety of the surrounding communities and the environment," Nick Pasculli, a Monterey County spokesman, said in a statement provided Thursday. "At this time, however, the County feels it is prudent to encourage PG&E to delay reactivation and continue to engage in additional open, transparent dialogue with County officials, first responders, and the residents we collectively serve," the statement reads. According to a Vistra website detailing the aftermath of the fire, an internal investigation is ongoing, and the cause of the blaze "remains unknown." A California Public Utilities Commission investigation into the blaze also is ongoing, Terrie Prosper, a spokesperson for the regulatory agency, told The Times. Vistra's battery energy storage system stands on the old site of the Moss Landing Power Plant, a gas-powered facility — originally built and operated by PG&E — whose twin smokestacks have towered over the region since 1950. Vistra acquired the plant in 2018 and demolished it to make way for the battery facilities, leaving the iconic smokestacks behind. In a February statement, PG&E noted that the Vistra facilities are 'located adjacent to — but walled off and separate from — PG&E's Moss Landing electric substation." In September 2022, a fire ignited in a single Tesla Megapack at PG&E's Elkhorn facility, five months after the battery energy storage system came online. The blaze, monitored by first responders, was allowed to burn itself out and had visible flames for about six hours, according to an investigation report by Energy Safety Response Group, an independent consulting firm. PG&E, in its letter this month to the county, said the cause of that fire was water that had entered the Megapack "due to the improper installation of deflagration vent shield panels." Tesla made fixes to all 256 Megapacks after the blaze, the utility company wrote. The longer, more destructive Vistra fire this year cast a pall over the clean energy industry in California, which in recent years has become more reliant upon renewable energy, electric vehicles and other battery-powered devices as state officials push to dramatically reduce planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions. The Vistra blaze prompted calls for additional safety regulations around battery storage, as well as more local control over where storage sites are located. Firefighters allowed the Vistra blaze to burn itself out, citing the dangers of dousing lithium-ion battery fires with water, which can cause dangerous chemical reactions. The fire, contained to a single building, smoldered for several days in mid-January. Read more: 'Extremely disturbing': High levels of heavy metals at Monterey estuary after lithium battery site fire In late January, scientists at San José State University recorded a dramatic increase in nickel, manganese and cobalt — materials used in lithium-ion batteries — in soil samples at the Elkhorn Slough Reserve, a nearby estuary that is home to several endangered species. The damaged Vistra building — filled with both burned and unaffected lithium-ion batteries — remained volatile. On Feb. 18, the fire reignited and burned for several hours. Vistra wrote on its website that "additional instances of smoke and flare-ups are a possibility given the nature of this situation and the damage to the batteries." "Since the January 16 fire, Vistra has brought in a private professional fire brigade that is onsite 24/7 to monitor the Moss 300 building," the company wrote. Read more: Residents sue energy companies after massive toxic battery fire at Moss Landing That structure, a former turbine building, contained a 300-megawatt system made up of about 4,500 cabinets, with each containing 22 individual battery modules, Meranda Cohn, a Vistra spokesperson, told The Times in an email. Of the 99,000 individual battery modules in the building, she said, about 54,450 burned. "Demolition on the Moss 300 building will begin once all batteries have been safely removed and discharged, and all debris (concrete, steel, piping) has been removed from the site," Cohn wrote. In February, four residents who live near the facility sued Vistra, PG&E and LG Energy Solution, accusing the companies of failing to maintain adequate fire safety systems. They alleged that they were exposed to toxic smoke emissions that caused nosebleeds, headaches, respiratory problems and other health issues. Environmental advocate Erin Brockovich is working with law firm Singleton Schreiber on the suit. Times staff writer Clara Harter contributed to this report. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
15-05-2025
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
PG&E plans to reopen lithium battery plant near Monterey County site burned in toxic fire
Four months after a massive fire ignited in Monterey County at one of the world's largest lithium-ion battery storage facilities, Pacific Gas & Electric said it intends to reactivate an adjacent battery site by June to meet summer energy demands. The plan comes over the objections of county officials who requested that both facilities remain offline until the cause of the January fire in rural Moss Landing is determined. 'I had hoped that PG&E would take a more transparent and collaborative approach in addressing the concerns of our surrounding communities, which are still grappling with the fallout of the largest BESS [battery energy storage system] fire in history,' Monterey County Supervisor Glenn Church wrote on Facebook on May 8. 'Restarting operations before investigations are complete and before stronger emergency protocols are in place is disappointing and deeply troubling,' he said. The PG&E facility is one of two battery energy storage systems at the Moss Landing power complex near Monterey Bay. The other is owned by Texas-based Vistra Corp. The batteries store excess energy generated during the day and release it into the power grid during times of high demand, including evening hours. Both facilities have been offline since Jan. 16, when a Vistra-owned building containing 99,000 LG battery modules caught fire, spewing toxic gases into the air and prompting the evacuation of some 1,500 people. The adjacent Elkhorn Battery Energy Storage Facility — which is owned by PG&E and maintained by both the utility company and Tesla — did not burn. But it automatically shut down when its safety equipment detected the fire in the Vistra building. The Elkhorn energy storage facility includes 256 stationary Tesla Megapacks — essentially shipping container-sized units filled with battery modules. The Megapacks, according to PG&E, stand on 33 concrete slaps at the Elkhorn facility. In a May 7 letter to Chris Lopez, chairman of the Monterey County Board of Supervisors, PG&E vice presidents Dave Gabbard and Teresa Alvarado said 'Tesla and PG&E have performed extensive inspection and clean-up' at the Elkhorn Facility and intend to restart it by June 1. After the fire, each of the Megapacks was disassembled and vacuum-cleaned, and environmental monitoring was conducted on and around the site, Gabbard and Alvarado wrote. 'The Elkhorn Facility, as constructed, allows for efficient storage and use of power,' they wrote. 'As summer approaches, that power is necessary to effectively manage the demands of the California power grid and to protect PG&E's customers from power limitations and related impacts.' A PG&E statement provided to The Times said: 'We understand that the safety and well-being of our community is of utmost importance.' The battery facility, the statement reads, provides 'cost savings for electric customers' and helps 'support the state's decarbonization goals.' In his May 8 Facebook post, Church, whose district includes Moss Landing, wrote that the Board of Supervisors on Jan. 22 sent a letter to PG&E and Vistra requesting that their facilities not return to operation until 'the cause of the Vistra fire, as well as a previous fire at the PG&E battery storage facility, are determined and appropriately addressed.' That letter, he wrote, also requested that both companies develop 'robust emergency response plans — based on a 'catastrophic worst-case scenario' involving full facility conflagration' for the county and other relevant agencies to review. Although emergency response plans are required by law, he added, existing state standards 'are limited in scope and do not provide the level of detail or realism' that county officials needed to ensure public safety. 'In previous discussions, PG&E indicated that a return to service would not occur until much later this year or beyond,' Church wrote. County officials have 'expressed concern' about the return to service and have reached out to facility operators to ensure emergency plans 'adequately provide for the safety of the surrounding communities and the environment,' Nick Pasculli, a Monterey County spokesman, said in a statement provided Thursday. 'At this time, however, the County feels it is prudent to encourage PG&E to delay reactivation and continue to engage in additional open, transparent dialogue with County officials, first responders, and the residents we collectively serve,' the statement reads. According to a Vistra website detailing the aftermath of the fire, an internal investigation is ongoing, and the cause of the blaze 'remains unknown.' A California Public Utilities Commission investigation into the blaze also is ongoing, Terrie Prosper, a spokesperson for the regulatory agency, told The Times. Vistra's battery energy storage system stands on the old site of the Moss Landing Power Plant, a gas-powered facility — originally built and operated by PG&E — whose twin smokestacks have towered over the region since 1950. Vistra acquired the plant in 2018 and demolished it to make way for the battery facilities, leaving the iconic smokestacks behind. In a February statement, PG&E noted that the Vistra facilities are 'located adjacent to — but walled off and separate from — PG&E's Moss Landing electric substation.' In September 2022, a fire ignited in a single Tesla Megapack at PG&E's Elkhorn facility, five months after the battery energy storage system came online. The blaze, monitored by first responders, was allowed to burn itself out and had visible flames for about six hours, according to an investigation report by Energy Safety Response Group, an independent consulting firm. PG&E, in its letter this month to the county, said the cause of that fire was water that had entered the Megapack 'due to the improper installation of deflagration vent shield panels.' Tesla made fixes to all 256 Megapacks after the blaze, the utility company wrote. The longer, more destructive Vistra fire this year cast a pall over the clean energy industry in California, which in recent years has become more reliant upon renewable energy, electric vehicles and other battery-powered devices as state officials push to dramatically reduce planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions. The Vistra blaze prompted calls for additional safety regulations around battery storage, as well as more local control over where storage sites are located. Firefighters allowed the Vistra blaze to burn itself out, citing the dangers of dousing lithium-ion battery fires with water, which can cause dangerous chemical reactions. The fire, contained to a single building, smoldered for several days in mid-January. In late January, scientists at San José State University recorded a dramatic increase in nickel, manganese and cobalt — materials used in lithium-ion batteries — in soil samples at the Elkhorn Slough Reserve, a nearby estuary that is home to several endangered species. The damaged Vistra building — filled with both burned and unaffected lithium-ion batteries — remained volatile. On Feb. 18, the fire reignited and burned for several hours. Vistra wrote on its website that 'additional instances of smoke and flare-ups are a possibility given the nature of this situation and the damage to the batteries.' 'Since the January 16 fire, Vistra has brought in a private professional fire brigade that is onsite 24/7 to monitor the Moss 300 building,' the company wrote. That structure, a former turbine building, contained a 300-megawatt system made up of about 4,500 cabinets, with each containing 22 individual battery modules, Meranda Cohn, a Vistra spokesperson, told The Times in an email. Of the 99,000 individual battery modules in the building, she said, about 54,450 burned. 'Demolition on the Moss 300 building will begin once all batteries have been safely removed and discharged, and all debris (concrete, steel, piping) has been removed from the site,' Cohn wrote. In February, four residents who live near the facility sued Vistra, PG&E and LG Energy Solution, accusing the companies of failing to maintain adequate fire safety systems. They alleged that they were exposed to toxic smoke emissions that caused nosebleeds, headaches, respiratory problems and other health issues. Environmental advocate Erin Brockovich is working with law firm Singleton Schreiber on the suit. Times staff writer Clara Harter contributed to this report.
Business Insider
23-04-2025
- Automotive
- Business Insider
Tesla Energy Smashes Records with Explosive Growth
Tesla Energy storage smashed records last year. The division—responsible for Tesla's (TSLA) battery packs, solar products, and large-scale energy storage like Megapacks—doubled deployments in 2024. This has vaulted Tesla's lesser-known segment into the limelight. The company delivered a staggering 31.4 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of storage products—up from 14.7 GWh in 2023. It's the kind of surge that makes you sit up straighter. Stay Ahead of the Market: Discover outperforming stocks and invest smarter with Top Smart Score Stocks. Filter, analyze, and streamline your search for investment opportunities using Tipranks' Stock Screener. But numbers on a page don't hit like a chart does. Just take a look at Tesla's latest energy deployment graph from Main Street Data (linked below). The towering blue bars show a relentless climb, with 2024 delivering quarter after quarter of growth. Q2 2024 alone hit 9.4 kilowatt-hours (KWh), the highest single-quarter figure on record. By Q4, Tesla topped that with a jaw-dropping 11 KWh. And 2025? It's already off to a hot start with 10.4 KWh in Q1. Tesla Energy Deployments Blow Past Records That massive leap in 2024 wasn't just a fluke year-end push. The second quarter alone saw 9.4 GWh of storage deployed—the biggest single-quarter number Tesla's ever logged. This surge came thanks to the Lathrop Megafactory ramping up production, Teslarati reported. That factory has an annual capacity of 40 GWh. And judging by the 2024 numbers, Tesla's putting it to good use. The momentum didn't stop there. The latest data shows that Tesla kicked off 2025 with another strong quarter. Though the year's just started, the bar graph for 2025 already stacks up impressively. Tesla Energy clearly isn't slowing down. With that kind of deployment growth, it's no surprise Tesla's energy revenues are surging too. The segment pulled in $10.09 billion in 2024—a 67% increase from 2023. As you can see from TipRanks' TSLA Revenue Breakdown chart, more than 10% of Tesla's total revenue now comes from energy. This isn't a side hustle anymore. Gross profits back that up. Tesla Energy made $2.6 billion in gross profit last year, more than doubling from the year before. The energy division is fast becoming a heavyweight. Tesla Expands Energy Growth with New Factories Looking ahead, Tesla's energy expansion isn't slowing. The Shanghai Megafactory is set to kick off mass production in 2025. It's expected to mirror Lathrop's capacity. This could set Tesla up for even bigger numbers. Analysts are starting to pay attention. One told the Megapack business alone could be worth $120 billion, calling it a 'sleeping giant' that might eventually outgrow Tesla's electric vehicle segment. Tesla Energy's growth story is just getting started. Graphs don't lie. Does Tesla Energy Make Tesla Stock a Buy? With Tesla Energy firing on all cylinders, the big question for investors is simple—does this make Tesla stock a buy? The energy division now pulls in over 10% of Tesla's total revenue. And with new factories like Shanghai gearing up, that slice could keep growing. That's why many are revisiting Tesla's valuation. It's no longer just about car deliveries or Cybertruck hype. Energy is adding serious muscle. This shift gives Tesla a broader base to stand on, which could support the stock through market cycles. Despite the success of Tesla Energy, TSLA stock still carries a Hold consensus rating, with 16 Buys, 11 Holds, and 12 Sells assigned in the last three months. The average TSLA price target sits at $290.62, implying a 22% upside from current levels.
Business Insider
23-04-2025
- Automotive
- Business Insider
Tesla's 'dismal' quarter was rescued by a lucrative side hustle. That may not last.
Tesla shared underwhelming earnings on Tuesday amid collapsing sales and protests against Elon Musk. One bright spot was its energy business, which one investor said saved Tesla's "dismal" earnings. However, executives warned the lucrative side hustle could be hit hard by Trump's tariffs on China. The EV maker's energy generation and storage business, which includes Tesla's Megapack and Powerwall battery systems, brought in $2.73 billion in the first three months of 2025, up 67% from last year. Those strong numbers put a gloss on what was otherwise a very underwhelming set of results. Tesla's net income plummeted to $409 million from nearly $1.4 billion in the same period last year, well below Wall Street's expectations. Revenues from its car business fell 20% as the company's sales collapsed across the globe amid a wave of Elon Musk-fuelled protests and vandalism. "Looks like energy storage saved some pretty dismal numbers from Tesla," wrote Tesla investor Ross Gerber in a post on X. However, Tesla's lucrative side hustle faces a serious speedbump in the form of the escalating trade war between the US and China. Speaking on an analyst call after the earnings, Tesla's CFO, Vaibhav Taneja, said that while the Trump administration's tariffs will hit the company on auto parts, the effect on Tesla's energy storage business from the tariffs on China will be more severe. "The impact of tariffs on the energy business will be outsized since we source LFP battery cells from China," said Taneja. Although Tesla makes Megapacks and Powerwalls at its factories in California and Nevada, the company imports the battery cell components for these systems from China, which dominates the global battery manufacturing industry. Taneja added that Tesla was attempting to set up the manufacturing of lithium-iron phosphate batteries in the US to get around the tariffs, but was facing a shortage of manufacturing equipment. "We've also been working on securing additional supply chain from non-China-based suppliers, but it will take time," said Taneja. Tesla faces fewer headwinds from the tariffs than other automakers, as it has sought to localize production of its cars and energy systems in the markets it sells them in. The company recently began Megapack production at a new factory in Shanghai near the gigafactory that produces its Chinese EVs. Despite this, Elon Musk has warned the auto tariffs introduced by Trump will have a "significant" impact on Tesla. The billionaire, who said on Tuesday he would step back from his cost-cutting role in the Trump administration, told investors that he would "continue to advocate" for lower tariffs — but said that Trump ultimately called the shots. "I made my opinion clear to the president, and other people made their opinion clear to the president," said Musk. "I'm hopeful that the president will observe whether my predictions are more accurate than the predictions of others and perhaps weigh my advice differently in the future. We shall see," he added.
Business Insider
23-04-2025
- Automotive
- Business Insider
Tesla's 'dismal' quarter was rescued by a lucrative side hustle. That may not last.
One of the few bright spots of Tesla's dire earnings is now in the crosshairs of Trump's tariffs. The EV maker's energy generation and storage business, which includes Tesla's Megapack and Powerwall battery systems, brought in $2.73 billion in the first three months of 2025, up 67% from last year. Those strong numbers put a gloss on what was otherwise a very underwhelming set of results. Tesla's net income plummeted to $409 million from nearly $1.4 billion in the same period last year, well below Wall Street's expectations. Revenues from its car business fell 20% as the company's sales collapsed across the globe amid a wave of Elon Musk-fuelled protests and vandalism. "Looks like energy storage saved some pretty dismal numbers from Tesla," wrote Tesla investor Ross Gerber in a post on X. However, Tesla's lucrative side hustle faces a serious speedbump in the form of the escalating trade war between the US and China. Speaking on an analyst call after the earnings, Tesla's CFO, Vaibhav Taneja, said that while the Trump administration's tariffs will hit the company on auto parts, the effect on Tesla's energy storage business from the tariffs on China will be more severe. "The impact of tariffs on the energy business will be outsized since we source LFP battery cells from China," said Taneja. Although Tesla makes Megapacks and Powerwalls at its factories in California and Nevada, the company imports the battery cell components for these systems from China, which dominates the global battery manufacturing industry. Taneja added that Tesla was attempting to set up the manufacturing of lithium-iron phosphate batteries in the US to get around the tariffs, but was facing a shortage of manufacturing equipment. "We've also been working on securing additional supply chain from non-China-based suppliers, but it will take time," said Taneja. Tesla faces fewer headwinds from the tariffs than other automakers, as it has sought to localize production of its cars and energy systems in the markets it sells them in. The company recently began Megapack production at a new factory in Shanghai near the gigafactory that produces its Chinese EVs. Despite this, Elon Musk has warned the auto tariffs introduced by Trump will have a "significant" impact on Tesla. The billionaire, who said on Tuesday he would step back from his cost-cutting role in the Trump administration, told investors that he would "continue to advocate" for lower tariffs — but said that Trump ultimately called the shots. "I made my opinion clear to the president, and other people made their opinion clear to the president," said Musk. "I'm hopeful that the president will observe whether my predictions are more accurate than the predictions of others and perhaps weigh my advice differently in the future. We shall see," he added.
