Texas, 11 April 2023 (GNP): Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, revealed on Sunday that his company will build a Shanghai plant to produce 10,000 huge batteries per year for electric producers and distributors.
Tesla opening Megapack factory in Shanghai to supplement output of Megapack factory in California https://t.co/hDpqoyNeOx
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 9, 2023
The batteries, which Tesla refers to as Megapacks, are made to retain a lot of electricity; according to Tesla, a single Megapack can power 3,600 households for an hour.
There is currently a Tesla Megapack plant in California, which makes 10,000 units annually.
The new Chinese plant, according to Musk, will be an extension of Tesla’s US production.
When the local power system is overloaded or there is a blackout, the batteries, which are about the length and height of an international shipping container, can emit the electricity needed to power houses or industries.
Electric utilities are switching from fossil fuels to wind and solar energy, therefore the ability to conserve electricity when it is not needed is essential.
Grid-storage battery demand is exceptionally high in China. New solar and wind farms must now have enough batteries to store 10 to 20 percent of their power.
At a Shanghai signing ceremony, Xinhua, a Chinese news agency, reported that Elon Musk’s company will break ground on the factory in the third quarter and begin production in the second quarter of 2024.
The new factory, which will initially create 10,000 Megapack units annually, or around 40 gigawatt hours of energy storage, to be marketed worldwide, would supplement a sizable existing electric car manufacturing facility in Shanghai, according to Xinhua.
Also Read: NdcTech modernizes core platform of Samba Bank
Tesla plans to boost production while cutting costs of its Megapack lithium-ion battery modules at its new factory in Shanghai to fulfill the growing demand for energy storage as the world switches to using more renewable energy sources.
The Chinese battery giant CATL has been advancing its relationships with customers like Tesla in the area of energy storage battery supply since its Chairman Robin Zeng anticipated that this market will be greater than that of batteries for electric vehicles.
The announcement comes at a time when the US government has been pressuring American businesses to depend less on China due to escalating hostilities between Beijing and Washington.
The Biden administration barred US tech companies last year from constructing “advanced technology” facilities in China for a period of ten years. These companies get federal assistance.
The policies were an aspect of a $50 billion effort to expand the US semiconductor sector.
A bill limiting $280 billion to high-tech manufacturing and scientific research was signed by Mr. Biden in August amid worries that China was gaining ground on the US in terms of technology.