Tesla, the ubiquitous electric battery giant is now serving as an aid to Puerto Rico after the island was hit by a massive hurricane last year.
Tesla’s Initiatives:
Tesla CEO Elon Musk says they have about 11,000 energy projects underway in the country. In May, Musk said the company installed batteries in 662 locations in Puerto Rico. Their focus was on critical services like installing a series of powerpack systems in the islands of Vieques and Culebra for a sanitary sewer treatment plant.
They also included the Arcadia water pumping station, the Ciudad Dorada elderly community, the Susan Centeno hospital, and the Boys and Girls Club of Vieques. Tesla’s energy division additionally deployed a solar battery system at a local hospital in the country.
Tesla’s Future in Puerto Rico:
This is just the tip of the iceberg, according to Musk who reports there are about 20 times more projects underway in the ravaged country. Each project would have one Powerwall, which would equal the deployment of around 150 MWh of energy capacity. Most projects will include more than one Powerwall. In fact, a homeowner received a three-Powerwall installation that helped keep the lights on during one of the country’s latest power outages.
The Puerto Rican government is considering Tesla’s plans for a series of microgrids throughout the market to facilitate power on a larger scale.
This could be reflective of Tesla’s shift toward decentralized energy storage systems. Other examples of Tesla’s energy initiatives include a 500,000 Powerwall virtual power plant project in Australia (among many of the company’s various Australian-based initiatives), and other smaller initiatives in Lebanon. This also means that Tesla has a lot of work to do to bring these projects to fruition.
Tesla uses a combination of solar cells and their Powerpack energy storage batteries, which generate energy using the sun’s rays and stores power in poor weather conditions.
Musk Reaches out Via Twitter:
Tesla’s work in the ravaged country began in last year during a Twitter exchange between Musk and Puerto Rican Governor Riccardo Rossello. Musk donated $250,000 of personal funds toward recovery efforts.
Rossello replied to the tweet by Musk saying that the potential flagship project could showcase the grandeur of Tesla’s technologies.
Tesla’s Current Troublesome State:
In June, Tesla announced that they would be cutting 9% of its workforce for profit enhancement, but said it wouldn’t affect the ramp-up of its Model 3 Sedan. The cuts are part of a company-wide restructuring to address excess staff in certain areas due to rapid company growth.
Tesla claims that they are focusing on costs and not profit, since the battery giant hasn’t made an annual profit in almost 15 years.
The layoff affects almost 4,000 workers. We hope they find come across a good solution for their current troubles!
Related:
