TransAlta Renewables one of the leading renewable independent power producers in Canada announced that its 10 MW WindCharger project, Alberta’s first utility-scale, li-ion battery energy storage system has begun commercial operations on Thursday, October 15.
WindCharger utilizes Tesla’s Megapack technology for the project, known to have a capacity of 10MW and 20MWh of total storage capacity.
“We want to thank Tesla for working with us on this exciting project. The completion of the WindCharger project is an important milestone as we progress towards our goal of providing clean, reliable and low-cost energy solutions to our customers,” said John Kousinioris, Chief Operating Officer and President, TransAlta Renewables Inc.
The project, which was acquired from TransAlta Corporation (“TransAlta”) in August of this year, has a total capital cost of approximately $14.5 million, with approximately 50 percent being funded through the support of Emissions Reduction Alberta. As part of the acquisition, TransAlta will pay a fixed monthly capacity charge for the right to operate and dispatch the battery in the Alberta market.
The company added that the new technology can be fully charged in approximately two hours and will be powered by TransAlta Renewable’s Summerview II wind farm, making it a truly renewable battery energy storage system the company stated.
“This technology shows strong commercial potential and this particular installation has enough capacity to power all the homes in nearby Pincher Creek for approximately 90 minutes on only one charge,” Kousinioris added.
