Businesses in South Australia may find themselves plagued by fewer weather-caused blackout issues, now that Tesla has won a government bid to build what would be the world's largest lithium-ion battery. Tesla says the 100-megawatt energy storage solution will be completed by December, 2017.
The 100 MW/129 MWh Powerpack battery system will store wind energy from the Neoen Hornsdale Wind Farm and will speed the advancement of "a resilient and modern grid," according to Tesla. The Powerpack will charge using wind energy and then deliver electricity during peak hours to help maintain the reliable operation of South Australia's electrical infrastructure.
Last September, a 50-year storm damaged critical infrastructure in the area, causing a state-wide blackout. Further blackouts occurred in the heat of the Australian summer in early 2017.
Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries will continue to dominate the stationary energy storage sector, Lux Research said in March. But in April, preliminary research from the University of California Irvine seemed to indicate that power-to-gas storage could out-perform lithium-ion battery storage. Researchers demonstrated that the campus solar microgrid could increase the portion of renewable energy it uses by tenfold – from 3.5% to 35% – by implementing a power-to-gas strategy.
