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Tesla’s Powerpack farm in South Australia, better known as the Hornsdale Power Reserve, may very well inspire the creation of two additional giant 250 MW battery systems in the country. The plans for the two massive batteries were submitted around three years after Tesla CEO Elon Musk decided to take the leap and take on the challenge of solving Australia’s power outages through battery storage and software.
As noted in a recent Bloomberg report, Fluence, a partnership between Siemens and AES Corp., has proposed to construct two large lithium-ion batteries at strategic points on Australia’s transmission grid. These systems would allow the region to have better access for clusters of wind and solar plants. Seemingly taking out a page from Elon Musk and Tesla Energy’s book, Fluence noted in its proposal that the batteries could be up and running within 18 months.
Australia is a perfect match for renewable energy, considering that the country receives a lot of sunlight and wind. There is also a trend of retiring old coal-fired plants in favor of more sustainable alternatives. A notable part of this trend is due to the massive success of Tesla’s 150MW big battery in South Australia, which was built within 100 working days and ultimately became a resounding success due to its speed, reliability, and cost.
Tesla Could Supply Megapacks For A Giant Battery Project In Victoria, Australiahttps://t.co/ZQSVIYEKQk
— Vincent (@vincent13031925) April 16, 2020
However, regional bottlenecks still exist, and there is a lack of central policy in the country. This has resulted in investments in the sector to decline 38% last year, according to data from BloombergNEF. Fluence, for its part, suggests that these bottlenecks could be addressed by virtual transmission lines that would integrate battery storage systems along the country’s transmission network.
The company proposed the buildout of two 250MW batteries for this purpose, which would complement Tesla’s 150MW Powerpack Farm in South Australia. It should be noted that the Hornsdale Power Reserve is currently billed as the world’s largest battery in operation today, though more ambitious projects are on the way. Among these is a massive Virtual Power Plant in South Australia, as well as a Tesla Megapack installation in Victoria that dwarfs both of Fluence’s proposed batteries combined.
Tesla is currently in the process of building out a Virtual Power Plant for the Queensland area. Utilizing energy from 50,000 homes equipped with solar panels and Tesla Powerwall batteries, the Queensland Virtual Power Plant is expected to deliver 250MW of solar energy and store 650MWh of backup power. Tesla Energy’s flagship battery, the Megapack, is also poised to be deployed on Victoria for the creation of a gargantuan 600MW/1200MWh battery system.
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