Nantucket to be powered by 48 megawatt-hour Tesla battery

Tesla will build a giant 48 Megawatt-hour battery to power the entire island of Nantucket, which regularly welcomes elite Democrats such as Bill Clinton and Joe Biden.

A popular tourist attraction, Nantucket is 30 miles from the coast of Massachusetts in the north east corner of the country. It is home to about 10,000 people. The residents there rely on two underwater power cables that connect to the mainland for electricity. In case of a fault, two six-megawatt diesel generators are available for backup power.

But National Grid have confirmed the lifecycles of those generators is coming to an end and will enlist Tesla to build a new backup battery. More than 200 Tesla Powerpacks will be installed to store the energy.

Increasing energy demands from Nantucket mean a third underwater submarine cable will need to be installed within 12 years. National Grid is hoping the Tesla battery can delay the third cable by a further 15-20 years.

Fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger and Microsoft founder Bill Gates are also regular visitors of Nantucket.

President and chief operator of National Grid's FERC-regulated businesses Rudy Winter said the Tesla system, which is referred to as BESS (battery energy storage system), provides an efficient and effective solution. "Our customers, communities and policymakers look to us to deliver innovative solutions like this to help advance our clean energy future".

Nantucket energy coordinator Lauren Sinatra praised the National Grid's solution. "We are confident that the proposed project, combined with targeted energy-saving programs and other planned electric infrastructure upgrades, will play a transformational role in meeting Nantucket's near- and long-term energy needs."

Tesla has been revealing energy plans across the globe over the past several years, most significantly in Australia. Elon Musk made a deal with the South Australian government to build a 129 Megawatt-hour battery in "100 days or its free". South Australia suffered rolling blackouts in 2016 before Musk tweeted his promise. He later met with the government officials and insisted the deal include the '100-day or free' clause.