Elon Musk and South Australian authorities team up to develop the biggest Li-ion backup battery

Prolonged power outages can cause serious problems, especially in more isolated zones, such as South Australia. The series of blackouts that occurred in this area back in September 2016 cost local business AU$367 million, prompting the authorities to immediately search for a solution that will prevent such catastrophic outcomes. In March 2017, Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, offered to help the South Australian authorities with the installation of a backup power system. Now, Tesla has officially announced that it will work together with French energy company Neoen and the South Australian Government to install a grid-scale renewable energy storage system.

According to the press release, the storage system is made up of a 100 MW/129 MWh Powerpack system from Tesla, which will be paired with Neoen’s Hornsdale Wind Farm near Jamestown, South Australia. The system will be completed by December 2017 and at that point it will become the largest lithium-ion battery storage project in the world, providing enough power for more than 30,000 homes – roughly the same number of homes that were hit by the blackout last year. Elon Musk also twitted that “this will be the highest power battery system in the world by a factor of 3.”

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