Tesla powers up world’s largest lithium ion battery in Australia

Tesla switched on the world’s largest lithium ion battery today in a project to provide emergency power to the blackout-stricken state of South Australia.

The 100-megawatt (129mWh) battery is paired to a wind farm and can power more than 30,000 homes for one hour - making it “three times as powerful as any other batteries currently installed”, says the Financial Times.

US-based electric car company Tesla installed the system to “support and stabilise existing electricity supplies”, the BBC reports, after the entire state lost power for an evening following a storm last September.

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The ambitious project began following a Twitter exchange between Australian tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes and Tesla co-founder Elon Musk in March, The Guardian says.

Cannon-Brookes “challenged” Musk to solve South Australia’s energy problems, the newspaper says. “Musk responded that if he couldn’t build a 100-megawatt battery in 100 days from signing the contract, he would provide it for free.”

The 100-day countdown kicked off on 30 September, reports the BBC, after the plan was approved by state government and regulators. The company finished the installation “in about 60 days”.

It is said to have cost A$50m (£28m) to build, says the FT.

Tesla to build world's largest lithium ion battery

7 July

Tesla will install the world's largest lithium ion battery in South Australia after 1.7 million people were left without power following a storm last year.

It has struck a deal with the Australian government to supply a 100 megawatt (129MWh) powerpack system for energy provider Neoen's Hornsdale wind farm near Jamestown.

The battery will be charged using the site's turbines to "deliver electricity during peak hours".

A tweet from Tesla chief executive Elon Musk said it would be "the highest power battery system in the world by a factor of three".

The deal "will be incredible helpful within Australia and around the world", he added, as he hopes it proves large battery installations are a suitable form of storing energy generated by renewable energy sources.

South Australia's old electrical infrastructure was heavily damaged last September when it was hit by the biggest storm the country had seen in 50 years, says the BBC. More than 1.7 million people were left without power for an evening.

Bidding for the tender to replace the system, Musk tweeted that Tesla would get a new one "installed and working 100 days from contract signature or it's free".

His 100-day deadline "will begin within a few weeks", following "a connectivity agreement" between the state, Tesla, Neoen and the Australian Energy Market Operator, sources told The Independent.

However, Musk said the project could cost Tesla "$50m [£39m] or more" if it failed to deliver a solution on time, without saying when that was.