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Entrepreneur Elon Musk has won a bet of 50 million US dollars by beating a 100-day deadline for building a giant battery to help South Australia avoid energy blackouts, officials said.
State Premier Jay Weatherill said testing of the massive lithium-ion battery would begin within days, ahead of the December 1 deadline Musk set for himself when he signed off on the project earlier this year.
Tesla Powerpacks in South Australia
Musk had pledged to build the battery in the South Australian outback for free if it was not completed within the 100 days. He estimated that would cost at least 50 million US dollars – local authorities will now pick up the tab.
The entrepreneur behind electric carmaker Tesla pledged in response to power woes in South Australia, which was last year hit by a state-wide blackout after severe winds from an "unprecedented" storm tore transmission towers from the ground.
A render of the Kingfisher solar farm, one of the two solar and battery storage projects set to come to South Australia.
"South Australia is set to have backup power in place this summer through the world's largest lithium-ion battery, which is set to be energized for the first time in the coming days as it enters a phase of regulatory testing," Weatherill said in a statement late Thursday.
Musk's Tesla Powerpack is connected to a wind farm operated by French energy firm Neoen and is expected to hold enough power for thousands of homes during periods of excess demand that could result in blackouts.
(AFP)
