Electric vehicle giant Tesla, through its Chinese arm, has finally broken ground on its new Megafactory site in Shanghai on Thursday.
Tesla to produce Megapack battery storage units in China for the first time
Tesla’s official Asia account proudly announced yesterday the significant milestone on social media platform X.
The Musk-led company officially held the groundbreaking ceremony at its new $200 million Megafactory project that will produce Megapacks for large-scale li-ion battery storage in China.
Notably, the new facility in Shanghai is the second Tesla Megafactory following the one in Lathrop, California.
A significant progress in Tesla’s battery storage expansion plans
The Lathrop Megafactory is still ramping up to its maximum 40 GWh production capacity. Nonetheless, it already managed to help Tesla hit record-breaking energy storage deployment results almost every quarter.
Earlier this year, the American company declared ambitions to replicate the Megafactory in China via a partnership with Shanghai’s Lingang authorities.
The official signing ceremony for the Shanghai Megafactory project transpired in late 2023. It set a new timeline after the event, with production starting toward the end of the year.
For reference, Tesla initially expected to kick off development in H2 2023 and production in Q1 2024. However, the project seems to have encountered several delays.
Now, Tesla has finally broken ground on the local Megafactory project in China. It now aims to start production in Q1 2025. The schedule is approximately a year behind the initial timeline. Nonetheless, it is indeed a very ambitious target, given that it is only less than a year after breaking ground.
The company expects the facility to pave the way for the shift to sustainable energy.
Megafactory to serve growing demand for renewable energy storage in Asia-Pacific
Tesla aims to eventually ramp up the Megafactory Shanghai’s annual production to approximately 10,000 Megapacks. This figure equates to about 40 GWh of energy storage capacity, similar to the Lathrop Megafactory.
Apart from boosting its total energy storage capacity, the new Megafactory in Shanghai will also help Tesla cut its logistical costs.
It will enable Tesla to ship many of its Megapack units in Asia-Pacific from Shanghai rather than the US.
Presented below are the key details about the Tesla Megapacks:
| Items | Description |
| Renewable Smoothing | Balance the flow of renewables to the grid by storing and discharging energy |
| Demand Support | Discharge energy during peak demand to support distribution infrastructure |
| Infrastructure Investment | Postpone costly grid infrastructure upgrades by storing power at a single location |
| Voltage & Frequency Regulation | Stabilize voltage levels by absorbing reactive power and adjusting output |
| Market Participation | Provide energy support to the grid in response to system operator alerts |
| Microgrid | Build a localized grid that can disconnect from the main power grid |
