Elon Musk close to producing biggest battery in Australia

If Elon Musk has his way, in around 100 days, the world’s largest battery will power South Australia.

The Tesla founder says installation of the 100 megawatt (129MWh) lithium ion battery is now half-way complete. 

It will be more than three times larger than any existing power storage facility when it’s finished. 

The project grew out of a Twitter bet between Musk and Australian software billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes where Musk promised he could build the battery ‘in 100 days or its free’.

It comes a year on from South Australia’s disastrous blackouts caused by a major storm, which devastated the state.

Elon Musk has announced the company is halfway done installing the 100 megawatt (129MWh) lithium ion battery near Jamestown, in South Australia’s mid-north

MEGAWATT LITHIUM ION BATTERY

Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced the company is halfway done installing the 100 megawatt lithium ion battery, which will be more than three times larger than any existing power storage facility. 

The battery is being built at a wind farm operated by France’s Neoen that is located about 225 km (141 miles) from the South Australian capital of Adelaide and will supply power to the lithium-ion storage cells.

Last year’s state-wide blackout was blamed by opponents of renewable energy on the state’s rush to embrace wind and solar, and fuelled a backlash that has split Australia’s conservative federal government and led to renewed calls to support coal-fired power.

Musk says he’s confident he can deliver on his promise but admits the project is not without risk as it seeks to go ‘three times further than anyone has gone before’.

Tesla won a bid in July to build a 129 megawatt hour (MWh) battery and the state is counting on it to be ready by the start of the southern summer in December when electricity demand begins to peak.

Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk vowed to install it within 100 days of signing a grid connection agreement or give it to the state for free. 

The grid agreement was signed on Friday, triggering the countdown, a Tesla spokesperson said.

At an event highlighting the construction progress on the battery, Musk once again spoke of the future he sees for renewable energy and batteries.

‘This is just the beginning. What this serves as is a great example of what can be done,’ Musk said at the event, which was powered entirely by battery packs.

Musk was speaking from the construction site of the battery, which is being built at a wind farm operated by France’s Neoen that is located about 225 km (141 miles) from the South Australian capital of Adelaide and will supply power to the lithium-ion storage cells.

Last year’s state-wide blackout was blamed by opponents of renewable energy on the state’s rush to embrace wind and solar, and fuelled a backlash that has split Australia’s conservative federal government and led to renewed calls to support coal-fired power.

South Australia hopes the Tesla battery will forestall further blackouts, but Australia’s Treasurer Scott Morrison says it is just a ‘Hollywood solution’ that is not solving the bigger problem of how to supply power when the wind isn’t blowing.

Elon Musk says he's confident he can deliver on his promise but admits the project is not without risk as it seeks to go 'three times further than anyone has gone before'

Elon Musk says he’s confident he can deliver on his promise but admits the project is not without risk as it seeks to go ‘three times further than anyone has gone before’

Tesla won a bid in July to build a 129 megawatt hour (MWh) battery and the state is counting on it to be ready by the start of the southern summer in December

Tesla won a bid in July to build a 129 megawatt hour (MWh) battery and the state is counting on it to be ready by the start of the southern summer in December

‘The batteries are on track to be operational by December 1,’ South Australia Energy Minister Tom Koutsantonis told Reuters.

Analysts have estimated the battery should cost around $750 (US $585/£439) to $950 (US $741/£556) per kilowatt, or up to $95 million (US $74 million/ £56 million). 

Musk said in July the cost to Tesla would be ‘$50 million [US $39 million/ £29 million] or more’ if it failed to deliver the project on time.

The Australian Energy Market Operator has warned the country faces a very tight power market this summer, following the closure of one Australia’s biggest coal-fired power stations in the neighbouring state of Victoria.

A Tesla representative (R) demonstrates the Tesla Powerwall battery storage device to potential customers at the Tesla store in Sydney. At the event, Musk once again spoke of the future he sees for renewable energy and batteries

A Tesla representative (right) demonstrates the Tesla Powerwall battery storage device to potential customers at the Tesla store in Sydney. At the event, Musk once again spoke of the future he sees for renewable energy and batteries

Mr Musk's company Tesla will partner with French renewable energy group Neoen to build the 100 megawatt lithium ion battery

Mr Musk’s company Tesla will partner with French renewable energy group Neoen to build the 100 megawatt lithium ion battery

‘The battery has a very useful role to play in the South Australian electricity system at the moment,’ said Sydney-based energy analyst David Leitch at ITK Services Australia, adding it was valuable insurance against the much heavier costs of another blackout.

The state’s biggest power user, global miner BHP’s Olympic Dam copper mine, alone lost $105 million (US $82 million/ £62 million) last year when it was shut for two weeks by the blackout, wiping out the mine’s annual profit.

The battery has been designed to help cover temporary dips in wind power, say for 15 minutes, or help control frequency on the grid at times when natural gas-fired plants are unable to help balance generation and power demand.

‘What they’re trying to do is buy a little bit of time for other systems to respond to fluctuations,’ said Bikal Pokharel, an analyst with energy consultants Wood Mackenzie in Singapore.

Musk was speaking from the construction site of the battery, which is being built in Jamestown about 225 km (141 miles) from the South Australian capital of Adelaide

Musk was speaking from the construction site of the battery, which is being built in Jamestown about 225 km (141 miles) from the South Australian capital of Adelaide

A Tesla  Powerwall unit sits inside a home in Monkton, Vermont, US. Musk said in July the cost to Tesla would be '$50 million [US $39 million/ £29 million] or more' if it failed to deliver the project on time

A Tesla Powerwall unit sits inside a home in Monkton, Vermont, US. Musk said in July the cost to Tesla would be ‘$50 million [US $39 million/ £29 million] or more’ if it failed to deliver the project on time

The state's biggest power user, global miner BHP's Olympic Dam copper mine, alone lost $105 million (US $82 million/ £62 million) last year when it was shut for two weeks by the blackout, wiping out the mine's annual profit

The state’s biggest power user, global miner BHP’s Olympic Dam copper mine, alone lost $105 million (US $82 million/ £62 million) last year when it was shut for two weeks by the blackout, wiping out the mine’s annual profit

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