Elon Musk and Tesla behind secret Texas battery project

Gambit Energy Storage project big enough to power 20,000 homes in summer heat

Elon Musk and Tesla are behind a secret mega battery that will plug into the Texas power grid that failed during the recent winter storm, reports say.

The 100 megawatt battery is being built in Angleton, Texas, and will be big enough to power around 20,000 homes during the height of summer, according to Bloomberg.

Gambit Energy Storage, a Tesla subsidiary company, is building the energy storage project, with workers covering up equipment at the site.

Property records show that Gambit shares an address with a Tesla facility in Fremont, California, according to the report.

Warren Lasher, senior director of system planning at the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, says that Gambit is registered with ERCOT.

And he told Bloomberg that the company had a projected commercial operation date of 1 June.

Despite Tesla’s electric cars being the company’s most famous product, Elon Musk has always touted the promise of Tesla Energy.

“I think long-term Tesla Energy will be roughly the same size as Tesla Automotive,” the entrepreneur said in a 2020 earnings call.

“The energy business is collectively bigger than the automotive business.”

Tesla has turned much of its recent focus to Texas, with Musk confirming last December he had moved to the state from California.

The company is building a massive Gigafactory manufacturing plant near Austin, Texas, where they will build the Model Y and Cyber Truck models.

Musk also says he wants to build a city, called Starbase around the existing SpaceX facility in Boca Chica, Texas, where they are testing the prototype Mars Starship rocket.

Both Tesla and SpaceX continue to be headquartered in California. 

Musk is currently the world’s second richest man with a personal fortune of $153bn, behind Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who is worth $177bn, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

He temporarily overtook MR Bezos, but a fall in Tesla’s share price has seen him overtaken again by the e-commerce entrepreneur.