Elon Musk promised to build the world’s largest biggest lithium-ion battery in less than 100 days. They have now succeeded.
Just over a year ago, in September 2016, South Australia was hit by a storm that left 1.7 million people powerless. In response to the event, The Australian Government decided to build an energy storage park with a storage capacity of at least 129 MWh and 100 MW of power.
Tesla will get the system installed and working 100 days from contract signature or it is free. That serious enough for you?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) 10 mars 2017
Following a public procurement, it was clear that Tesla would be given the contract to build the battery, which would be connected to the energy producer Neoens wind farm near Jamestown, South Australia.
As usual, when Tesla does something, it often becomes a spectacular event. In March, Elon Musk announced on Twitter that he promised that the battery park would be built in one hundred days from the contract day, if they failed this feat, Tesla would bear the total cost of the installation, estimated to be at least $50 million.
Congratulations to the Tesla crew and South Australian authorities who worked so hard to get this manufactured and installed in record time! https://t.co/M2zKXlIVn3
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) 23 november 2017
But now it seems that the hundred days began to count only halfway into the project, but Musk is well ahead of schedule (a rarity for Tesla), with the 100MW battery set to be energized and tested in the coming days, according to a press release from the local state government.
Upon completion by December, it will be the largest lithium-ion battery storage project in the world and will provide enough power for more than 30,000 homes, approximately equal to the number of homes that lost power during the blackout period, according to Tesla.