Enova taps Tesla Megapack battery as “queen bee” for shared solar project

Enova Community Energy has revealed it has chosen a Tesla Megapack as its first “shared battery,” to be installed in the peer-to-peer solar trading platform it is setting up in the New South Wales Hunter Region, at a site in Kurri Kurri.

The Byron Bay-based Enova said this week a 1.072MW/2.14MWh Tesla Megapack would be installed at an Ausgrid substation on the outskirts of Kurri Kurri, as part of the so-called Beehive Project it is developing in partnership with Sydney-based software company Enosi and the University of Newcastle.

“We’re excited to be using a Tesla battery for The Beehive Project, a world-renowned company delivering proven big battery
technology,” said Enova Community Energy CEO Felicity Stening in a statement on Thursday.

“We expect Megapack – our Queen Bee – to be on the ground in Heddon Greta, in the latter half of this year.”

The peer-to-peer program will enable up to 500 participants to buy and sell rooftop solar energy from each other and trade with the battery itself, as long as they are Enova customers, live in NSW, and have a smart meter – solar, however, is not a must.

According to the website, participants will be able to log into an online platform, where energy usage from solar households will be matched with non-solar households and assist customers to conduct transactions with each other.

The platform will also connect the participants to the battery for accessing stored energy when needed, via the battery node, effectively making it part of the P2P community.

As Enova explains this week, the Megapack will be called a ‘shared community battery’ because the stored energy will be distributed among households that aren’t necessarily located close to the battery, thanks to smart technology.

“The peer-to-peer trading aspect of the project means every day households can access more renewable energy, at a price they can decide on,” the statement says.

The software underpinning the energy sharing and trading platform, called Powertracer, has been developed and contributed by Enosi, while the University of Newcastle will collect and analyse data over the course of the “first of its kind” pilot.

The project is also supported by funding from the NSW government, under its Regional Community Energy Fund.

NSW households wishing to register interest in participating in The Beehive Project should do so here.

Enova is also hosting a Q&A Zoom Event about the Beehive with its project partners on Tuesday February 16, from 6.00pm to 7.00pm. Parties can register to attend via the same link as above.