中國(guó)儲(chǔ)能網(wǎng)訊：據(jù)報(bào)道，特斯拉公司新興的儲(chǔ)能部門目前的利潤(rùn)率相當(dāng)微薄。與此同時(shí)，特斯拉公司的太陽(yáng)能業(yè)務(wù)正在繼續(xù)下滑。
雖然如此，特斯拉公司仍在努力在未來(lái)幾個(gè)月內(nèi)增加其Model 3電動(dòng)汽車的產(chǎn)量，并且還有另外一個(gè)積極的增長(zhǎng)目標(biāo)，即儲(chǔ)能產(chǎn)品的產(chǎn)量將大幅增長(zhǎng)。
特斯拉公司在2月6日下午發(fā)布的特斯拉第四季度和2017年全年財(cái)報(bào)中表示，計(jì)劃到2018年，其儲(chǔ)能部署的容量至少比2017年增加三倍。
該公司在給股東的公開(kāi)信中寫道：“我們儲(chǔ)能產(chǎn)品的生產(chǎn)速度要與Model 3汽車的生產(chǎn)速度相當(dāng)。”
特斯拉公司推出的名為Powerpacks的大型電池組，可以連接電網(wǎng)，為公用事業(yè)和企業(yè)提供電力服務(wù)，或與太陽(yáng)能和風(fēng)力發(fā)電場(chǎng)配套使用。該公司還出售電力容量較小的Powerwall設(shè)備，為家庭和小型企業(yè)提供備用電源等服務(wù)。
馬斯克表示住宅太陽(yáng)能部署已受到家用電池供應(yīng)短缺的影響
特斯拉公司一直認(rèn)為其儲(chǔ)能部門具有巨大的增長(zhǎng)潛力，但它已經(jīng)將汽車業(yè)務(wù)放在了優(yōu)先發(fā)展位置，這其中包括Model 3電動(dòng)汽車。而通過(guò)此次為其儲(chǔ)能部門設(shè)定積極增長(zhǎng)目標(biāo)，特斯拉顯示出將會(huì)更加重視該行業(yè)的增長(zhǎng)前景。
然而，Model 3電動(dòng)汽車和特斯拉的電池廠Gigafactory的支出仍然和去年一樣，占據(jù)特斯拉公司2018年的大部分資本支出，而其汽車業(yè)務(wù)也帶來(lái)了大部分收入。
2017年全年，特斯拉公司創(chuàng)造了117.6億美元的收入，與2016年的70億美元的收入相比有所提升。2017的收入中只有11.2億美元來(lái)自于其儲(chǔ)能和太陽(yáng)能聯(lián)合部門。
與此同時(shí)，特斯拉公司2017年虧損了22億美元，而2016年則虧損7.73億美元。盡管面臨巨大的虧空，但特斯拉首席執(zhí)行官伊隆?馬斯克（Elon Musk）在收益電話會(huì)議上表示，他對(duì)特斯拉可以很快獲得GAAP盈利表示樂(lè)觀。
去年夏天，馬斯克在特斯拉公司的儲(chǔ)能團(tuán)隊(duì)立下軍令狀，并在推特（Twitter）上打賭，能夠在100天內(nèi)在南澳大利亞州安裝100兆瓦的電池儲(chǔ)能系統(tǒng)。特斯拉公司最終實(shí)現(xiàn)了這一目標(biāo)，在南澳州詹姆斯敦（Jamestown）附近的風(fēng)電場(chǎng)旁建造了世界上最大的電池系統(tǒng)。
特斯拉在股東公開(kāi)信中表示，南澳大利亞州項(xiàng)目的成功促進(jìn)了大型電池組Powerpack的市場(chǎng)需求。他說(shuō)：“顯而易見(jiàn)，我們?cè)诖笠?guī)模儲(chǔ)能方面有著巨大的機(jī)遇?！?
除了南澳大利亞州項(xiàng)目外，特斯拉公司還在夏威夷考艾島、美屬薩摩亞島、康涅狄格州，以及加利福尼亞州的多個(gè)地點(diǎn)建造了大型儲(chǔ)能電池系統(tǒng)。
特斯拉公司日前表示，正在設(shè)法與南澳大利亞州達(dá)成另一項(xiàng)交易，為家庭住宅安裝多達(dá)50,000個(gè)Powerwall電池，并搭配屋頂太陽(yáng)能電池板。特斯拉還在家得寶（Home Depot）和勞氏公司（Lowe's）的商店建立的售貨亭展示和銷售與Powerwall相結(jié)合的太陽(yáng)能電池系統(tǒng)。
其儲(chǔ)能業(yè)務(wù)為特斯拉來(lái)帶來(lái)多種價(jià)值，這是特斯拉在消費(fèi)者驅(qū)動(dòng)的汽車銷售業(yè)務(wù)之外實(shí)現(xiàn)多樣化經(jīng)營(yíng)的一種方式，但這也可能是一個(gè)反復(fù)無(wú)常的市場(chǎng)。隨著公用事業(yè)公司希望增加更多的清潔能源，降低煤炭和核能的使用量，儲(chǔ)能部署將成為一個(gè)主要的增長(zhǎng)市場(chǎng)。
特斯拉公司表示，2017年第四季度部署了143兆瓦時(shí)的儲(chǔ)能產(chǎn)品，比上年同期增長(zhǎng)了45％。并表示，去年在南澳大利亞州建造的129兆瓦時(shí)電池儲(chǔ)能部署將在2018年第一季度得到認(rèn)可。
盡管特斯拉公司的儲(chǔ)能產(chǎn)品銷售正在大幅增長(zhǎng)，但目前似乎利潤(rùn)率相對(duì)較低。太陽(yáng)能和儲(chǔ)能聯(lián)合部門的毛利率在2017年第四季度僅為5.5％。而2017年第三季度該部門的毛利率為25.3％。
該公司表示，其太陽(yáng)能業(yè)務(wù)部門季度銷售量持續(xù)下滑，盡管第四季度應(yīng)該是部署的好時(shí)機(jī)。但是并沒(méi)有達(dá)到預(yù)期目標(biāo)。特斯拉公司報(bào)告說(shuō)，2017年第四季度僅部署了87兆瓦的太陽(yáng)能，比2017年第三季度的部署量少了20％。
特斯拉公司表示，“由于我們今年早些時(shí)候決定撤消某些銷售渠道，并將重點(diǎn)放在利潤(rùn)率更高的項(xiàng)目上，導(dǎo)致太陽(yáng)能發(fā)電產(chǎn)品的銷量下降。此外，太陽(yáng)能部署受到供電需求不足的影響，因?yàn)榭蛻粝Ｍ谧约业奶?yáng)能光伏發(fā)電系統(tǒng)中使用Powerwall電池，而在短期內(nèi)這些因素可能會(huì)繼續(xù)受到影響，但我們預(yù)計(jì)今年晚些時(shí)候?qū)⒒謴?fù)增長(zhǎng)?！?
特斯拉公司表示，預(yù)計(jì)其太陽(yáng)能和儲(chǔ)能聯(lián)合部門的毛利率將在2018年有所提高，因?yàn)樗沟酶嗟腜owerpacks和Powerwalls能夠以更低的成本生產(chǎn)。這通常是一種增加生產(chǎn)和削減成本的工作方式。
目前，特斯拉的儲(chǔ)能部門仍處于剛剛起步階段，特斯拉目前正在開(kāi)展的其他項(xiàng)目可能會(huì)阻礙其規(guī)模的擴(kuò)展。
特斯拉公司表示，增加Model 3產(chǎn)品的時(shí)間表與上次的財(cái)報(bào)電話會(huì)議所說(shuō)的相同。特斯拉沒(méi)有提到Model 3發(fā)展目標(biāo)，但在其股東信中表示：“我們之前的Model 3的經(jīng)驗(yàn)教訓(xùn)表明，難以準(zhǔn)確預(yù)測(cè)特定時(shí)間點(diǎn)的特定生產(chǎn)率?！?
由于設(shè)定了多個(gè)業(yè)務(wù)目標(biāo)，特斯拉儲(chǔ)能部門的業(yè)務(wù)可能會(huì)面臨成長(zhǎng)的痛苦。例如，為了迅速地建立南澳大利亞電池農(nóng)場(chǎng)，特斯拉公司轉(zhuǎn)而采用了三星公司提供的電池，而不是在其在Gigafactory自己生產(chǎn)的電池。因此，該公司仍然面臨業(yè)務(wù)過(guò)于分散的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。（中國(guó)儲(chǔ)能網(wǎng)獨(dú)家編譯，轉(zhuǎn)載請(qǐng)注明來(lái)源）
原文如下：
Tesla Plans to Triple Battery Deployments in 2018
But margins are pretty slim for the emerging energy storage division. Meanwhile, Tesla’s solar business continues to decline.
Katie Fehrenbacher February 08, 2018
Tesla said residential solar deployments have been affected by a short supply of home batteries.
While Tesla is struggling to ramp up production of its Model 3 car in the coming months, it’s got another aggressive growth target in front of it: a big production ramp-up for its energy storage products.
In Tesla’s fourth-quarter and full-year 2017 earnings report released Wednesday afternoon, the company said that it plans to at least triple the amount of energy storage capacity it deploys in 2018 compared to 2017.
“[T]he production ramp of our storage products is just as steep as with Model 3,” the company wrote in its letter to shareholders.
Tesla sells large-scale battery packs, called Powerpacks, that can be plugged into the electric grid and provide services for utilities and companies or be paired with solar and wind farms. The company also sells the smaller Powerwall unit that provides services, such as backup power, to homes and small businesses.
Tesla has long maintained that it sees big growth potential in its energy storage division, but it has prioritized its automotive business, including the Model 3. By setting aggressive growth targets for its energy storage division for the year, Tesla is showing it’s finally taking the prospect of growth in the sector more seriously.
However, the Model 3 and Tesla’s massive battery factory, the Gigafactory, will still get the bulk of the company’s capital spend for this year -- as they did last year. The automotive business also brings in much of the revenue.
For the full year of 2017, Tesla generated $11.76 billion in revenue, which was a jump from the $7 billion in revenue it generated in 2016. Just $1.12 billion of that revenue in 2017 was from its combined energy storage and solar division.
At the same time, Tesla lost $2.2 billion last year, compared to a loss of $773 million for 2016. Despite the massive negative net income, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on the earnings call that he is “optimistic” that Tesla could be GAAP profitable soon -- “with no asterisk.”
Musk threw down the gauntlet last summer for the company's energy storage group and made a bet via Twitter that Tesla could install 100 megawatts of energy storage in South Australia in 100 days' time. Tesla achieved that goal and built the world’s biggest battery farm next to a wind farm near Jamestown in South Australia.
Tesla said in its shareholders' letter that the success of the South Australia project has led to “an increase in demand” for the Powerpack. “It’s clear that there is a huge opportunity for us in large-scale energy storage,” wrote Tesla.
In addition to the South Australia project, Tesla has also built large battery farms on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, on the island of American Samoa, in Connecticut, and on multiple sites in California.
This week Tesla said it managed to score another deal with South Australia to install up to 50,000 Powerwall batteries in homes, paired with rooftop solar panels. Tesla is also building kiosks at Home Depot and Lowe’s stores that would show off and sell the Powerwall, combined with solar panels.
The energy storage business is valuable for Tesla in a variety of ways. It’s a way for Tesla to diversify outside of the consumer-driven business of selling cars, which can be a fickle market. It’s also a major growth market in its own right as utilities look to add more clean energy and reduce their reliability on coal and nuclear.
Tesla said that in the fourth quarter of 2017 it deployed 143 megawatt-hours' worth of energy storage products, growing installations 45 percent from the same quarter the year before. The 129 megawatt-hours of energy storage built in South Australia last year will be recognized in the first quarter of 2018, Tesla said.
While Tesla’s energy storage products are seeing significant growth, they appear to have relatively low margins for the time being. The combined gross margin for the division that comprises both solar and energy storage was 5.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2017. That’s compared to a 25.3 percent gross margin for the division in the third quarter of 2017.
Tesla’s solar division continues to decline quarter-over-quarter, though it was supposed to right-side this quarter, according to the company. However, that prediction did not come to pass. Tesla reported that in the fourth quarter of 2017 it deployed just 87 megawatts of solar, which was 20 percent less than the amount deployed in Q3 2017.
"Solar [megawatts] deployed declined as volumes continue to be impacted by our decision to close certain sales channels earlier this year and to focus on projects with better margins," Tesla stated. "In addition, solar deployments were affected by the short supply of Powerwalls for customers who wanted solar plus Powerwall in their house. While volumes may continue to be impacted by these factors over the near term, we expect growth to resume later this year."
Tesla said it expects that the gross margin of the combined energy storage and solar unit will improve as it makes more Powerpacks and Powerwalls and gets better at manufacturing them at a lower cost. That’s usually the way it works: ramp up production and cut costs.
Right now Tesla’s energy storage division is still in a fairly nascent phase. And scaling it up could be hampered by all the other efforts that Tesla is currently working on.
Tesla says its timeline to ramp up Model 3 production is the same as it was last earnings call (delayed at least twice in the past, but not a third time). Tesla hedged its Model 3 goals, though, by stating in its shareholder letter: “Our prior experience on the Model 3 ramp has demonstrated the difficulty of accurately forecasting specific production rates at specific points in time.”
With so many balls in the air, Tesla’s ramp of its energy storage division could face growing pains. For instance, in order to build the South Australian battery farm so quickly, Tesla turned to Samsung to supply the batteries instead of making them itself at the Gigafactory. The company continues to risk spreading itself too thin.
