Contact Energy has teamed up with electric car company Tesla to build a grid-scale 100-megawatt battery at Glenbrook, at a cost of up to $163m.
The company said the battery would enhance Contact’s renewable-energy flexibility and provide enough electricity to meet peak winter demand for 44,000 homes for more than two hours.
The battery will be sited next to NZ Steel and Transpower’s grid connection point, and will be closer to Auckland load than any other grid-scale battery project.
After a competitive tender, Tesla had been selected to supply its Megapack 2 XL battery energy storage system and to provide commissioning and long-term maintenance services.
The agreement with Tesla includes an option to expand the capacity for the battery to 130MW at this site.