Ireland latest territory for Tesla’s renewables-integrating storage

LinkedIn
Twitter
Reddit
Facebook
Email

Image: Tesla Energy.
Electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla and renewable energy developer Gaelectric have announced a joint test project to evaluate utility-scale storage to facilitate the integration of renewables onto the grid.

The 1MW energy storage project, claimed to be the first utility-scale energy storage project of its type in Ireland, will be connected to the grid in 2016. The partnership will see the two companies develop a pipeline of many battery projects in Ireland to help inform Tesla Energy explore opportunities in residential and commercial energy storage applications.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Enjoy 12 months of exclusive analysis

  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Annual digital subscription to the PV Tech Power journal
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

Tesla has chosen Ireland as its initial European energy storage test bed because of its “renewable energy targets and favourable regulatory framework”. However, the partnership will see the companies investigate other suitable European markets.

Commenting on the company’s partnership with Tesla, Gaelectric head of energy storage, Keith McGrane, said: “The accelerating pace of storage technology development and its application to how we generate, use and store power is truly astounding. Much of these developments are around incorporating greater amounts of renewable power while protecting the stability of our transmission systems and controlling costs. Tesla is the vanguard for the revolution that is currently underway.”

One storage industry source recently also told PV Tech that due to its smaller size Ireland could be an apt place to trial energy storage for the grid as it was "easier to get all the right people in the same room" than its neighbour, the UK, where the source is based.  

Tesla’s energy storage devices use the same lithium-ion technology that the manufacturer uses for its range of electric vehicles, which will soon be manufactured at the company’s so-called Gigafactory in America in partnership with Panasonic.

The company claims that its energy storage devices represent a “critical step in the mission to enable zero emission power generation”. Tesla’s utility-scale batteries come in 100kWh blocks, these modular systems can be grouped together to scale from 500kWh to over 10MWh. Tesla foresees these huge batteries being used for peak shaving, load shifting and demand response.

The deal in Ireland is the latest in a flood of Tesla partnership announcements and publicity that has emerged since the launch of the stationary storage range, differing in scope and scales. In additions to sales and supply channels, these include deployments and trials for US utility Southern California Edison and involvement with Australian company Reposit Power's 'Grid Credits' scheme, which allows smaller scale PV system owners to trade their electricity and to exploit the disparity between peak and off-peak priced energy. In a recent report on lithium-ion batteries, EVs, stationary storage and their respective costs, Lux Research claimed that downstream partnerships in a "variety of markets" would be essential for lithium-ion cell producers to succeed.

11 November 2025
San Diego, USA
The 2024 Summit included innovative new features including a ‘Crash Course in Battery Asset Management’, Ask-Me-Anything formats and debate-style sessions. You can expect to meet and network with all the key industry players again in 2025 from major US asset owners, operators, RTOs and ISOs, optimizers, software and analytics providers, technical consultancies, O&M technology providers and more.

Read Next

June 19, 2025
Real estate platform and energy storage investor Prologis Energy has sold a 400MW/800MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) located in Alvin, Texas, US.
June 18, 2025
Distributed energy company Scale Microgrids has closed US$275 million to support 140MW of distributed generation projects, including battery storage installations in several US states.
June 18, 2025
Home battery systems company Haven Energy and California utility Clean Energy Alliance (CEA)  have partnered to provide homeowners in the state with battery energy storage systems (BESS) at no purchase or installation cost.
June 18, 2025
South Australia is preparing to launch a new LDES tender seeking projects with a minimum of 30MW and at least 8 hours in duration.
June 18, 2025
The Philippines Department of Energy (DOE) officially opened its hugely anticipated fourth Green Energy Auction (GEA-4) round to registrants earlier this week.

Most Popular

Email Newsletter