Gary Zhou 
Tesla has launched a new 68 MWh Megapack project in Contego, West Sussex, that will use Autobidder AI software for real-time trading and control.
The project has a peak power of 34 MW DC and has a storage capacity of 68 MWh. The massive energy project is powered by 28 of Tesla’s Megapack batteries, large-scale lithium-ion battery storage products that many sustainable energy storage projects have utilized over the past several years. According to Tesla’s website, a single Megapack has a 3 MWh storage capacity and costs $1.2 million.
The massive energy storage project near Burgess Hill in the United Kingdom was launched on March 2nd, 2021. The project was expected to be completed in June 2021 and operational soon after that. The project has officially launched and will provide energy storage solutions for citizens in the area.
Contego is connected to the UK Power Networks distribution network, which provides the capability to store energy from renewable sources and afford peak-time flexibility, according to the Future Renewable Vision (FRV) website, which has monitored the project since its approval in November 2020.
David Menéndez, Head of FRV, commented on the project in March:
“Energy storage is one of the keys towards decarbonization, and Contego represents our next step in our long-term commitment to foster the growth of energy storage deployment worldwide. FRV is taking an important step in its storage roadmap, working once again with Harmony Energy on the development of a large scale project which will bring additional flexibility capabilities to the UK’s state-of-the-art electrical system while facilitating the integration of renewable energy supporting the UK’s ambitions on their carbon neutrality policies.”
The project will use Autobidder, Tesla’s AI-based trading, and control platform. Autobidder provides real-time trading to provide value-based asset management and portfolio optimization, giving owners and operators the ability to configure operational strategies that would maximize revenue. Tesla writes on its website:
“Autobidder has hundreds of megawatt-hours of assets under management that have supplied gigawatt-hours of grid services globally. Autobidder operates at every scale: from aggregations of behind-the-meter residential systems to 100MW utility-scale installations. With seamless integration between hardware and software, Autobidder can be trusted to capture revenues immediately after project energization and 24/7 in dynamic environments.”
Autobidder has been deployed at several projects, including another in the UK in the town of Dorset.
Autobidder has started to alarm some electricity companies in Europe, especially in Germany, where some utility providers are considering a similar strategy to keep customers.
