Tesla wins big energy storage contract with Californian utility
Tesla announced it won a contract to provide a 20MW energy storage system at the Mira Loma substation owned by California utility Southern California Edison, which will be one of the largest lithium-ion battery storage projects in the world when completed, ultimately able to power 2,500 homes. The deal must be seen as part of Tesla’s ongoing effort to expand its business beyond electric vehicles into supplying batteries to store energy for homes, businesses and now, utilities. No financials details have been revealed, however, a Bloomberg analyst confirmed the project will be up and running “in a record time frame…months instead of years.” 
A guests takes photographs of the Powerpack system after Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla unveiled suit of batteries for homes, businesses, and utilities at Tesla Design Studio April 30, 2015 in Hawthorne, California.

Tesla just struck a deal to build one of the largest battery storage facilities in the world.

It will provide a 20-megawatt Powerpack system at a substation in Mira Loma, California. The lithium-ion battery system will store 80-megawatt hours of energy, enough to power more than 2,500 households for a day, according to a Tesla blog post. Tesla expects the grid to be completed by 2016. Southern California Edison owns the substation.

The contract is part of a state-mandated plan to improve grid reliability. It was originally ordered in 2013 and got expedited after a massive leak at a natural gas well in Aliso Canyon threatened power supplies.

Tesla shares rose by as much as 3 percent on Thursday.