‘That’s a record’: South Australia’s Tesla battery responds to coal-fired plant failure

THE world’s largest lithium-ion battery, built by Elon Musk, has already proved its worth, says the SA energy minister.

South Australia Opens World's Biggest Lithium Ion Battery. Credit — Jay Weatherill via Storyful Billionaire entrepreneur and founder of SpaceX Elon Musk speaking at the 68th International Astronautical Congress 2017 in Adelaide. Picture: Peter Parks

SOUTH Australia’s giant battery is already showing its worth, state Energy Minister Tom Koutsantonis says.

The world’s largest lithium-ion battery, built by tech billionaire Elon Musk, responded quickly last week when the coal-fired Loy Yang power plant tripped and went offline.

The battery delivered 100 megawatts into the national electricity grid in 140 milliseconds.

“That’s a record and the national operators were shocked at how quickly and efficiently the battery was able to deliver this type of energy into the market,” Mr Koutsantonis told 5AA radio on Wednesday.

The minister said that the battery’s quick response time showed its worth over other forms of power generation.

“Now if we got a call to turn on our emergency generators it would take us 10 to 15 minutes to get them fired up and operating which is a record time compared to other generators,” Mr Koutsantonis said.

The world's biggest battery was officially launched in Australia on December 1.

“Torrens Island power station would take half an hour to an hour to energise and synchronise into the market; the battery can do it in milliseconds.”

The battery, in the state’s mid-north, was switched on early this month after being built by Mr Musk’s company Tesla in under 100 days.

It is paired to the neighbouring Hornsdale Wind Farm, owned by French company Neoen, to bring added reliability and stability to the state’s electricity grid.

Originally published as ‘That’s a record’: South Australia’s Tesla battery responds to coal-fired plant failure