Tesla has officially commenced construction on a major new facility in Shanghai dedicated to producing its commercial-scale Megapack energy storage units. Chinese state media Xinhua reported that a groundbreaking ceremony was held marking the start of Tesla’s self-proclaimed “milestone project”.
Once operational, the factory will churn out a whopping 10,000 Megapack units per year, massive capacity will help Tesla meet surging demand for grid-scale battery storage as nations rapidly adopt renewable energy.
Megapack is Tesla’s largest energy storage product, containing over 3MWh of storage in a single cabinet. That’s enough juice to power 3,600 households for 1 hour. Utilities and power companies are deploying Megapacks to store solar and wind energy, stabilize grids, and prevent blackouts.
Compared to gas peaker plants, the Megapack provides a much greener solution for ensuring reliable electricity on demand, with batteries increasingly beating gas on price, Tesla is gearing up for a battery storage boom.
Originally Tesla planned to begin Megapack factory construction in Q3 2023 per Shanghai authorities, (Tesla to Build Megapack Battery Factory in Shanghai with 40 GWh/year Production Capacity). However, today’s groundbreaking confirms a slight delay, with the facility now starting in Q4 and production expected by Q3 2024.
Once the Shanghai Megapack factory is operational at full capacity, Tesla will be pumping out gigawatt-hours of storage annually, will give the company a vital battery output advantage in a rapidly growing global market.
With abundant battery production capabilities between Tesla’s Nevada Gigafactory, its new facilities in Texas, and now massive Megapack capacity in Shanghai, Tesla aims to dominate the renewable energy storage race.