United States | Of volts and jolts

California has got really good at building giant batteries

At peak times they provide 30% of the state’s electricity

Tesla Megapack batteries at the Elkhorn Battery Energy Storage System in California.
Listen for the rattlePhotograph: Getty Images
|MOJAVE

A renewable energy corridor is rising in eastern Kern County, California—where the Mojave Desert meets the Sierra Nevada mountains. Among the wind turbines, solar panels and Joshua Trees are giant batteries that look like shipping containers. Tesla workers tinker with the ones at the Eland solar and storage project, developed by Arevon Energy. They wear sun hats and boots and warn your correspondent to watch out for rattlesnakes.

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