Tesla kept its promise and switched on the world's largest battery
Environment — di Rudi Bressa
The lithium-ion battery built in Australia has started supplying energy. At 100 MW, it is the largest installation in the world.
Tesla kept its promise and switched on the world's largest battery
The lithium-ion battery built in Australia has started supplying energy. At 100 MW, it is the largest installation in the world.
Elon Musk kept his promise. In under 100 days, the world's largest lithium-ion battery went live in Jamestown, around 200 km north of Adelaide. After all, Tesla's chief executive had bet that if the battery were not connected to the grid by that date, he would give it to the Australian government free of charge.
In July, Tesla had won a tender to build a 129 megawatt-hour battery to be connected to a wind farm built by French company Neoen, designed to address the frequent power blackouts that had occurred over the previous 18 months. Now, with the start of summer, the battery will be able to cover the electricity demand of 30,000 households for one hour.
100 days for 100 MW
The system, based on Powerpack technology, was commissioned to support the Australian grid and in particular to stabilise electricity supply in an area that has seen enormous growth in the share of renewable energy installed across the country. This year, South Australia reached — eight years ahead of schedule — its target of generating half of its energy from renewable sources. It currently has more than 1.65 GW of installed wind capacity.
"We've had enormous growth in renewables with wind and solar, but the fundamental thing now is energy storage," said Premier Jay Weatherill. "With this battery we will be able to send energy 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to people and businesses right across South Australia."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPzfOMsuSXE https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=sRudUWG7e7A&has_verified=1
From Australia to Puerto Rico, Tesla's record-breaking battery
Tesla's energy storage projects — including some major ones — are growing in number. From the first "experiments" in the Hawaiian islands to the first island, Ta'u in American Samoa, powered entirely by renewables. The previous record belonged to California, where a 70 MW system supplies electricity to 15,000 households. But there are also more humanitarian projects, such as the most recent one, which saw electricity restored to Puerto Rico after the island was struck by Hurricane Maria.