When Elon Musk and his storage batteries help Australia ditch coal

Elon Musk’s tweets don’t always create controversy. Source: Australia is turning the page on coal, and the shift towards a cleaner energy mix will have a look: Tesla boss Elon Musk reveals an article Bloomberg Dated 4th April. It all started in 2016. That year, the state of South Australia, home to nearly 2 million Australians, experienced an unprecedented blackout. While the region bets on renewable energy, by building wind farms, it struggles to produce its electricity. The community is unable to replace the output of its last coal-fired power plant, which closed a few months ago. To meet its electricity needs, it imports electricity from neighboring regions and contemplates various options to depend on other regions.

It was at this point that Elon Musk would have come into play. The fabulous billionaire would have boasted that he had a solution: the construction of the world’s largest battery, which would make it possible to store renewable energy. Because solar and wind power are intermittent, a giant battery system can store electricity not when it’s actually being produced, but when it’s actually needed. The proposal did not go unnoticed. Australian software billionaire and climate activist Mike Cannon-Brookes challenged the Tesla CEO: ” Elon Musk, are you serious? Can you guarantee 100 MW in 100 days? “. He replied: Tesla will install and operate the system 100 days after signing the contract, otherwise it’s free. Is that intense enough for you? “.

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The Tesla system will be installed and working for 100 days from contract signature or it will be free. Are you serious?

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 10, 2017

A third of the country’s coal-fired power plants will close by 2030

And to the surprise of many, Tesla delivered on its promise. A few months later, a gigantic electricity storage unit made up of lithium-ion batteries was unveiled. And other similar systems followed. These units have allowed Australia to benefit from less polluting electricity generation than coal in the region.

This change will be adopted across the country. Because almost all of its parts shut down coal-fired power plants. New South Wales, the island’s most populous state, will lose a powerhouse in April. Eraring, the largest in the country, will close its doors in 2025. And Yallourn, one of the oldest units, is due to cease operations in 2028. It’s simple: Australia’s National Power Station is one of 15 major coal-fired power stations supplying the network, which must officially close by 2030. Within 20 years, all of the nation’s coal-fired power plants may close.

When the country closes its gas-fired power plants, how can nuclear power be replaced by an option not chosen? After development of coal, solar, wind and hydro power generation units. It is estimated that one in three homes have solar panels, and this proportion is likely to increase in the coming years. Elon Musk’s battery system will facilitate a large-scale transition to this energy mix. It has to make significant investments to connect the generation of renewable energy and storage to the existing electricity grid. The bill, according to our colleagues: $215 billion.