Australian summers are hot and blackouts that stop fans and air conditioners can become serious health concerns, decrease productivity, and are downright uncomfortable for citizens. That is why when South Australia had a series of blackouts in the early summer of 2017, lawmakers were pushed for a fast resolution for a new grid energy storage system. Government leadership called for the deployment of grid energy storage in excess of 100 megawatts of capacity and begin a bidding process for prospective suppliers.
Tesla initially garnered the most publicity by guaranteeing deployment in 100 days or less, or the entire project would be done for free. Furthermore, Tesla has past experience with such large-scale projects, as they completed an 80-megawatt grid storage project for the California Public Utilities Commission. After being forced to close their storage facility because of a catastrophic methane leak, they realized there was a huge gap to fill peak power demands. Tesla finished this project around January 2017 – with claims that it is was the largest battery storage project in the world with the capacity to power 2,500 residential houses for 24 hours.
This previous experience makes Tesla and Musk confident that they will be able to fulfill their promise. The California project took 90 days after all, and now they have experience. While the Australia project is larger, the fundamental technique and technologies required are the same. While new challenges may arise from the increased scale, Musk says he’s “confident in techniques and the design of the system”. Tesla has now won the bid and will begin work on the project.
While there are many disadvantages to lithium-ion batteries, in particular, critiques revolve around their cost, cycle life, and safety, projects like these are living proof that li-ion technology is mature enough that its advantages outweigh its disadvantages. The cost of lithium-ion batteries is quickly decreasing, while safety has become much better despite publicity to the contrary. Finally, the cycle life of li-ion cells is also increasing, where such a project may provide adequate power for a decade or more.
