During natural catastrophes, a Tesla Megapack-powered microgrid in Northern California helped keep an airport and US Coast Guard station powered, which has been described as a lifeline for the region.
Natural catastrophes such as earthquakes and winter storms can result in power outages, depriving communities of essential services. In such an occurrence, it is critical to have backup power systems in place to ensure that operations continue uninterrupted.
This is precisely what the clean energy microgrid at Arcata Airport and the US Coast Guard Station in Humboldt County, California, has accomplished.
Megapack is now the top energy storage solution
The microgrid is made up of a 2.2 MW solar array system, and a 2.3 MW/9 MWh energy storage system made up of three Tesla Megapacks.
Megapack is rapidly becoming the energy storage solution for significant energy storage projects.
As we previously reported, Tesla distributed a record 6.5 GWh of energy storage capacity last year, owing primarily to a surge in Megapacks.
The Megapack-powered power system in Humboldt County was tested late last year in the aftermath of the magnitude 6.4 earthquake focused in Ferndale.
It caused thousands of PG&E customers in the Humboldt County area to lose power.
Efficient and effective in natural disasters
However, the microgrid has kept its 19 consumers online, including the Arcata-Eureka Airport and the adjoining US Coast Guard Air Base, both of which are critical to the region, particularly in the event of a natural disaster.
RCEA is the local government owner-operator of the microgrid generation system, and while we didn’t expect such rigorous real-world testing this winter, the system exceeded expectations. During a significant earthquake and multiple major storms, the microgrid reliably delivered power during grid outages so that our regional airport and coast guard could focus on their core missions. RCEA will continue efforts to prepare our region for future challenges and help our essential services to stay online when they are most needed
Dana Boudreau, RCEA’s Director of infrastructure planning and operations stated on efficiency of Tesla Megapack
The Megapack-powered microgrid proved helpful again in the last month, according to RCEA, as several typical winter storms hit Northern California.
The system landed several times, including eight hours on January 4.
