Tesla billionaire Elon Musk, Malcolm Turnbull in long conversation on energy security
PRIME Minister Malcolm Turnbull has opened what is tipped to be an ongoing dialogue on energy security with billionaire Tesla boss Elon Musk.
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PRIME Minister Malcolm Turnbull has opened what is tipped to be an ongoing dialogue on energy security with billionaire Tesla boss Elon Musk.
Energy storage technology was a key theme of an hour-long phone conversation between the pair on Sunday and they are expected to hold further talks.
It is understood a proposal by Mr Musk to build a 100 megawatt hour battery farm in SA was mentioned in the call with Mr Turnbull but not canvassed in any detail.
It follows a phone call between the tech leader and Premier Jay Weatherill on Saturday, in the wake of a suggestion by Mr Musk that his US-based company could build the battery farm in SA for $33 million, less than four months after gaining approval.
A spokesman for Mr Turnbull on Sunday said he and Mr Musk “had an in-depth discussion on the value of storage and the future of the electricity system”.
The PM took to Twitter confirm the call: “All Thanks @elonmusk for a great in depth discussion today about energy storage and it’s role in delivering affordable & reliable electricity.”
PayPal co-founder Mr Musk replied: “You’re most welcome. Very exciting to discuss the future of electricity. Renewables + storage arguably biggest disruption since DC to AC.”
The state’s energy woes have been central to the Coalition Government’s assault on Labor’s commitment to 50 per cent renewable energy by 2030.
Mr Turnbull has accused the SA Government of being lazy and reckless in its approach to embracing wind power.
Mr Weatherill has promised to unveil a dramatic new energy plan which The Advertiser understands will be released early this week.
Federal Labor energy spokesman Mark Butler said the SA Government was leading the way in renewable energy, in contrast to the Coalition Government.
“I think the speed with which the costs of these batteries are coming down has surprised even the most optimistic of analysts,” he said.
“We’ve seen Tesla do this in a range of other smaller jurisdictions, in American Samoa, in a range of remote communities here in Australia, where communities have been able to use the storage capacity of these batteries to deal with the intermittency of solar and wind technology in particular.
“So there is a bit of a way to go on this but it is a really exciting exercise of leadership by the South Australian Government ... and frankly a pretty stark contrast to the Federal Liberal Government which brings in lumps of coal into the Australian Parliament and talks about building new coal-fired power stations.”
Mr Musk’s plan has been well received on all sides of politics.
Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young called it a “game changer”.
Celebrity endorsement has also come from Dr Karl Kruszelnicki, who tweeted: “Renewable power for South Australia from Elon Musk? Sounds like win-win for SA. Either it works (& they pay $100M) or it doesn’t (cost= zero.”