THE Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) and Tesla Motor may explore a possible partnership involving storage batteries, a top official of the utility firm said last week.
Meralco SVP Alfredo S. Panlilio said key officials of Tesla will arrive in the country next month.
“We just had a telecon [telephone conference] with them last week. They are coming in mid-September,” he said.
When asked what was the agenda of Tesla’s impending visit, Panlilio said the utility firm and the electric carmaker may “explore potential business partnerships.”
“We’ve had very initial discussions. They just agreed to come over. They are interested to come in and explore. We will of course show them our charging stations,” the Meralco official said.
Technology and innovation inspire Meralco to achieve greater heights.
“Technology has always been a change driver. Technology and innovation drive us forward to achieve greater heights, but with that comes disruption. Traditional businesses die out or are forced to change their model as new technology innovations reshape the way we do things and open up new possibilities,” Panlilio said.
The electricity industry is no exception.
“A new wave of disruptive technologies is upon us. This includes distributed generation and the emergence of Internet technologies,” Panlilio said.
For instance, Tesla’s Powerwall, a cost-effective battery that stores electricity on a massive scale, can affect the way Meralco does business in the country, which, for now, relies heavily on grid power.
“We were quite concerned about the Tesla announcement recently. The ability of solar panels to be stored in batteries could disrupt traditional business model of Meralco,” Meralco Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan had said.
Tesla’s Powerwall uses state of the art lithium-ion batteries, which are the same ones used in Tesla’s electric cars. Tesla said on its web site the Powerwall can also acts as backup power in areas where power is very scarce.
“If that were to happen and one day it will happen in a very economic way… Who would have ever thought that the monopoly that Meralco has could someday run out of business, but as a default supplier of electricity,” Pangilinan said.