The Lithium Market: What You May Have Missed
Tesla is at the forefront of investors’ minds again — but NOT for its Gigafactory or its cars.
Now, my veteran readers will recall the announcement that Tesla made last year regarding its 7- and 10-kilowatt-hour Powerwall battery systems.
Back then, they were all the rage. People were pre-ordering like crazy, especially because it was a natural fit for their new SolarCity solar panel systems (and this was long before the two companies planned to actually merge).
And then there was nothing.
No new developments, contracts, or deals… at least not for a long while.
Well, it turns out the demand rush for these individual battery packs just wasn’t sexy enough for the media to run with for very long.
That and the fact that the hype surrounding the Model 3 ended up overshadowing the Powerwall considerably.
Don’t get me wrong, EVs are still going to be the biggest thing to happen to the lithium market since mobile devices, but that’s no reason to ignore a huge opportunity for both Tesla and its investors.
Golden State Lithium Profits
Earlier this week, Tesla Energy — the new branch of the company that will be absorbing SolarCity — inked a major contract in the Golden State.
The company will be responsible for building an 80-megawatt-hour installation, enough to power more than 2,500 homes.
This is a step toward another big trend in the energy markets: utility-scale energy storage. And even though massive installations sprung up all over the world, Tesla will undoubtedly have one of the largest lithium battery installations when it’s fully armed and operational.
As of the end of 2015, the largest energy storage installation period was the 110-megawatt Crescent Dunes tower in Nevada.
