Retired steam plant in California home to 800 MWh of Tesla Megapacks

In one of its latest energy storage projects, Tesla Energy is delivering its utility-scale Megapack 2 XL systems at a site of a retired steam plant in California.

The 200 MW/800 MWh Condor Energy Storage Project is located in Grand Terrace, San Bernardino County, with close access to an electrical substation and the transmission system. The site was previously home to the Highgrove Steam Plant, which was decommissioned in 2021 after nearly 50 years of operation.

The project broke ground in February 2023 and is one of several battery storage projects delivered by U.S. developers Arevon Energy and Tenaska in California.

“The project site location has a history of supporting regional energy needs, so it’s ideal for the Condor project, which will power the transition to more renewable energy sources,” said Tim Hemig, Senior Vice President in Tenaska’s Development Group. “It represents California’s continued evolution toward a more reliable and sustainable energy future.”

Condor features Megapack 2 XL, Tesla’s utility-scale battery system, as seen in photos Tesla posted on X on Friday. Each unit offers 3.9 MW of power and 15.6 MWh of energy storage. It measures 8.8 m × 2.785 m × 1.65 m and weighs more than 38 tons.

Tesla is presently assemblying Megapacks at its facility in Lathrop, California, and has broken ground on another Megafactory in Shanghai earlier this year. Once in full swing, each facility will be capable of delivering up to 40 GWh of Megapacks annually.

The Condor project is only of many large-scale deployments of Tesla Megapack, with 2024 expected to become the first year on record in which the growth rate of deployments and revenue in Tesla’s Energy Storage business should outpace the Automotive business.

In Q2 2024, Tesla Energy posted the highest quarterly deployment in the company’s history to date, amounting to 9.4 GWh. The company’s cumulative deployments this year have already reached 13.5 GWh by the end of June.

As Arevon announced earlier this year, the Condor project was anticipated to start operations in Q2 2024. The project is contracted under a 15-year agreement with Southern California Edison. Once fully operational, it will be capable of providing firming capacity, enhancing grid reliability and stability alongside increased adoption of renewable energy resources.

Tesla has been contracted to provide O&M services for the project. Rosendin Electric, Inc. is the project’s engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractor. Arevon will own and operate the project on a long-term basis.

Arevon owns and operates more than 3.5 GW of solar, storage, and solar + storage hybrid assets across the US. In California alone, the company has more than 1.9 GW of projects in operation and more than 1 GW under construction.