FRESNO, Calif. – Chalk one up for sustainability. Cargill has aligned with Tesla and Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) in an environmentally friendly project that will also save the company an estimated $100,000 annually in electricity.
Cargill will install Tesla’s Energy Storage system at its Fresno, California-based beef processing facility. The system features batteries that help reduce energy costs by storing electricity at off-peak use times and then using it during peak periods.
The Tesla batteries have a 1-megawatt capacity that will be charged daily from the existing PG&E electricity grid system during off-peak hours when electricity rates are lowest. The electricity stored in the batteries will then be used when rates are the highest each day during peak use times, which will reduce Cargill’s contribution to the daily state power peak.
“Tesla Energy Storage is another example of our willingness to employ new and different concepts for reducing our environmental footprint in ways that benefit the community and our beef business,” said Jon Nash, Cargill’s beef plant general manager at Fresno, in a press release. “We understand that while we produce nourishing protein for millions of people on the West Coast, it is important for us to do so as responsibly as possible.”
Nash said the company hopes to learn from the project — its first large-scale battery installation at a Cargill meat processing facility — for future potential use of the technology at its plants around the world.
Installation of Tesla’s Energy Storage system continues Cargill’s commitment to sustainability, according to the company. Other efforts range from resource conservation to trash removal from waterways; educating farmers in emerging nations how to optimize resources for long-term food production and more efficient transport of food that reduces emissions and use of fossil fuels; and collaborating with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and farmers and ranchers to improve agriculture.
