Our phones are powered by lithium-ion batteries, but what if we tell you that those batteries can power entire villages. Yes, you heard it right, Tesla has exactly built that.
In July, Space X CEO Elon Musk bet the people of Australia that he could build a 100MW battery in 100 days or it would be free. Turns out the man who proposed using rockets to fly us around the world in 30 minutes was not bluffing. Tesla just did it -- with about 40 days to go.
On Friday, the South Australian government announced the completion of the world's largest lithium-ion battery just outside the South Australian city of Jamestown. In a statement, the office of state premier Jay Weatherill confirmed the battery would be energised within days.
The battery is the outcome of a bet between Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Australian billionaire and founder of tech company Atlassian, Mike Cannon-Brookes. After a series of major power outages across South Australia, including a state-wide blackout that affected an area the size of France in September 2016, Cannon-Brookes challenged Musk to find a solution.
The deal to build the battery was made on Twitter in March, later Musk travelled to Australia announcing it in July and the contracts were signed on Sept. 29, kicking off the official 100-day countdown. But by that time, Musk was hosting a party in a marquee in South Australia overlooking an already half-completed battery array.
The 100MW battery array, made up of Tesla Powerpacks, is connected to the nearby Hornsdale wind farm, operated by Neoen. Set to be launched by Tesla officially, Neoen and the SA government next week, it will then go through a testing phase to ensure it meets regulations.
The new battery will produce enough energy to power about 30,000 homes for a little over an hour.
