Tesla confirms Powerwall-backed virtual power plants in Texas and Puerto Rico soon

Tesla has confirmed that it will soon launch virtual power plants using Powerwalls in Texas and Puerto Rico.

The company even confirmed it already has some significant power capacity in Puerto Rico.

Virtual power plants are becoming one of Tesla’s most underappreciated products.

Tesla is using its existing and growing fleet of Powerwalls to aggregate their power capacity and offer electric grid services to utilities while compensating homeowners for using their home battery packs.

The company’s California virtual power plant has already proved successful in its first year.

Now Tesla has been looking to bring virtual power plants to more markets where its Powerwall is popular.

Drew Baglino, Tesla’s head of engineering, confirmed that Tesla is working to bring a virtual power plant to Puerto Rico this summer:

The Tesla exec even confirmed that the company already has over 350 MW of Powerwalls installed in the territory, which means that it can quickly make a sizable impact.

Tesla quickly focused its Powerwall supply to Puerto Rico after the island’s electric grid was badly affected by a hurricane back in 2017.

Last year, Tesla said that Powerwalls were powering over 44,000 homes in Puerto Rico.

Baglino also confirmed that a VPP is coming to Texas soon:

As we previously reported, Texas is an important market for Tesla’s energy division as it is approved as an electricity retailer in the state.

Tesla plans to launch several new products in Texas under its new Tesla Electric business.