Happy Labour Day! On this first Monday of September, we bring to you another post about Australia and its battery plans. Earlier in the year, South Australia made a mega battery deal to supplement its needs after the major power outages. This was seen as a great move but could it backfire on the battery industry? Is South Australia betting on batteries?
What is “The Deal”?
Elon Musk of Tesla made a deal with South Australia to deliver them a 100MW battery within a 100 days and said it would free if the 100 days were up. Musk, of course, delivered as promised and made a whopping AUD50 million which is roughly $40 million in USD. This 100MW battery is being deemed the world’s biggest battery.
The Problem?
Industry insiders fear the state government’s rush to get the battery up and running was more about supercharging its political fortunes in the run-up to elections in March 2018-which could hamper or even stall support and investment in the future deployment of batteries in Australia.
If the Tesla project does not work as it is meant to, which one prominent energy storage expert has predicted could soon become apparent, this could see a public backlash against the technology-through no fault of its own. There are fears about the battery failing despite the hype and good press it has been receiving. This can be due to many issues such as a fragmented regulatory environment and creaking infrastructure.
Dr Jill Cainey, predicts that January and February could potentially be the “make it or break it” moments for the battery project. January and February are when summer temperatures reach their height in South Australia and the state capital can have a daily average temperature of around 29 degrees Celsius. Dr Cainey is the Australia-based director of grid solutions global application for energy storage at Chicago-based electric power systems equipment and services provider, S&C Electric Company.
We really hope this project makes it through for the sake of the Australia and future world projects.
Thanks for reading! What do you think will happen to the 100MWH battery project? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
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