Earlier this year, South Australia was hit by power problems and blackouts thanks to the extreme heat in the state.
As a result, Tesla’s chief executive, Elon Musk, took it upon himself to promise that he would solve the energy problems by building a 100 megawatt (MW) battery storage farm.
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He told the Australian billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes over Twitter that he would provide it in 100 days, or do it for free.
Tesla has stayed true to its promise. It has announced that it will provide the world’s largest lithium-ion battery storage project, with enough power for more than 30,000 homes to help prevent any more blackouts.
Jay Weatherill, the premier of South Australia, said:
It will completely change the way in which renewable energy is stored and also stabilise the South Australian network as well as putting downward pressure on prices.
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By GlobalData
How it works is: the 100 MW/129 MWh Tesla Powerpack system will be paired with the Hornsdale wind farm, near Jamestown in South Australia.
The wind farm, owned by the global renewable energy provider Neoen, will collect energy to charge the Tesla Powerpack.
Then, the Powerpack will deliver electricity during peak hours to maintain the state’s electrical infrastructure.
According to a release from Telsa, the Powerpack will “further transform the state’s movement towards renewable energy and see an advancement of a resilient and modern grid”.
The battery farm should be completed by December 2017.
Speaking in Adelaide, Musk said:
There is certainly some risk because this will be the largest battery installation in the world by a significant margin. The next biggest battery in the world is 30 megawatts.
It is thought that this project could be expanded across the region. Tesla said:
We expect this project will provide a model for future deployments around the world that will help significantly accelerate the adoption of sustainable energy.
Alongside its electric car production, Tesla has been expanding its work in batteries, particularly relating to renewable energy storage.
In March this year, it recently completed a solar project in Hawaii, on the island of Kauai, to install batteries to store solar power during the day and dispatch it to the grid during the evening.
Hawaii has a goal of getting all of its electricity from renewable sources by 2045 and the partnership with Tesla will help the island offset the use of fossil fuels.
