Tesla has finished installing what’s being billed as the world’s largest lithium-ion battery, a 100MW/129MWh storage system linked to a wind farm in the state of South Australia.
The battery will be energised in the next few days as it enters a testing phase, said a statement from the South Australian government.
The US battery and electric vehicle pioneer is racing to meet a self-imposed 100-day installation deadline after winning a competitive tender run by the state.
The storage system will operate alongside the Hornsdale wind farm owned by French renewables developer Neoen.
It will provide grid-stability and back-up power operations for the South Australian power system, which is facing up to the retirement of significant coal-fired capacity, and which came under scrutiny last year when storm damage to transmission infrastructure led to a state-wide blackout that some claimed was down to reliance on wind power.
The tight installation schedule came after Tesla founder Elon Musk famously claimed on the social media platform Twitter earlier this year that he could deliver a massive storage solution to South Australia within 100 days.
Hornsdale is an up-to 270MW wind project near Jamestown where a second 100MW phase is currently being added to the 100MW already in place, with turbines supplied by Siemens Gamesa.
