New Tesla Shanghai energy storage factory gets go-ahead

The planned Tesla Shanghai Energy Storage Factory received its construction permit recently, with the complex to be built in the Lin-gang Special Area in East China's Shanghai.

The green light for the factory marks a milestone, as it will be the electric car giant's first energy storage unit production plant outside the United States.

With a floor space covering 200,000 square meters and costing an estimated 1.45 billion yuan ($200.4 million), it benefitted from the Lin-gang Special Area's newly introduced streamlined project service package, which simplified the approvals process.

Since December last year, the nascent Tesla facility has already been utilizing the project service package, which has been rolled out in the field of engineering construction.

The package involves embedding a complete service system – from the perspectives of both the enterprise and local government sides – into the approvals process before its initiation.

This streamlines all aspects of the project into a cohesive package and establishes milestone processes based on the project's requirements.

Min Zhiguang, deputy director of the Lin-gang Special Area approvals and review center and head of the project construction service office, said this represented a major advancement.

"Our project service package helps businesses swiftly access clear government service and management requirements, even in early stages when investment plans are uncertain,” Min said.

"It ensures smooth integration and prompt problem-solving without the need to navigate multiple departments separately," he added.

Starting construction in May, the aim is to have the plant ramp up to full-capacity production by the first quarter of next year.

Moving forwards, the Shanghai Energy Storage Super Factory will produce the Megapack, a super large-scale commercial energy storage battery, to assist grid operators, utility companies and others in storing and distributing renewable energy more efficiently.

Over 200 Megapacks can form an energy storage plant capable of storing 1 million kilowatt-hours of electricity.