MAINE PUBLIC • July 19, 2022
The white boxy structures across the river from the former Great Northern Paper mill in East Millinocket, Maine, don’t look like much. But a close look offers a glimpse of Maine’s green energy future — one that's battery powered. Half a mile down a dirt road through the woods, you come to a clearing on the West Branch of the Penobscot River. Nine gleaming white cubes, each the size of a short shipping container, are sitting on cement pads. They generate a faint hum. The boxes are marked with a red logo: Tesla. They are high-tech lithium ion batteries known as Tesla Megapacks. They hold enough juice to power about 9,000 homes for two hours. Brookfield has another similar facility at the former mill in Millinocket. And it’s planning two more near its dams on the Androscoggin and Saco rivers. Another company, NextEra, has a battery on Cousins Island in Yarmouth.