Tesla leads the charge to push lithium ion battery technology

▶ Enerwhere using the firm’s products as a supplement to usual supply

Tesla has entered the region’s solar market for the first time in Dubai, opening up a new avenue for the car maker.

The company headed by Elon Musk is widely known for its electric vehicles (EVs), and launched its first car showroom in Dubai earlier this year. Beyond its EVs, Tesla is a front runner in the wider market for lithium ion batteries.

Such batteries are used to power EVs, but are also used to store solar energy for use when the sun is not shining. Those batteries are now in use in Dubai.

Tesla’s lithium ion Powerpack battery is now running alongside a hybrid generator system in the Dubai International Financial Centre.

The energy solutions provider, Dubai’s Enerwhere Sustainable Energy, is using the battery in addition to biodiesel to store solar power, thereby ensuring all-day electricity supply without the use of conventional diesel.

“Most construction sites in the UAE are powered by diesel generators, which are the dirtiest and most expensive form of power generation,” said Daniel Zywietz, the chief executive of Enerwhere.

“Additionally, with the high temperatures and humidity in the UAE, conventional engines sometimes break down.”

That can result in complete shutdown as a backup generator can take about 20 seconds to kick in.

“In an office full of computers this could be a major issue, as dozens of people will lose their work,” Mr Zywietz said.

The lease-based solar hybrid system is used at the Australian firm Multiplex’s construction site in ICD Brookfield Place and sources 40 kilowatts per hour of solar power during the day and then switches to the battery system at night.

“If there is not enough power available from solar and battery, the site’s diesel generators will run on biodiesel as a backup,” Mr Zywietz said.

The Enerwhere project is the first of its kind in the region, paving the way for a new market for lithium ion batteries beyond the EV sector into solar, for use in both small and large sites.

Siddiq Farid, an independent energy storage consultant, said Tesla would shift to energy rather than maintaining its car manufacturer status.

“Tesla will evolve into an energy company because that’s just where the market is heading,” he said.

Florian Mayr, a partner at the clean-tech advisory firm Apricum, said energy storage is expected to increase globally, while the price of batteries such as Tesla’s will more than halve by 2025.

The energy storage sector in the Mena region will expand, driven by renewable energy power projects.

“With the [price of solar photovoltaic power] in Dubai at less than 3 US cents, it’s possible to add energy storage to a solar park and still offer electricity at a competitive price,” Mr Mayr said yesterday at this week’s Intersolar Middle East conference that was held in Dubai.

Most construction sites in the UAE are powered by diesel generators, the dirtiest, most expensive form of power generation DANIEL ZYWIETZ ENERWHERE CEO