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  1. #1
    Thailand Expat Slick's Avatar
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    Elon Musk: I can fix South Australia power network in 100 days or it's free

    Elon Musk, the billionaire founder of electric car giant Tesla, has thrown down a challenge to the South Australian and federal governments, saying he can solve the state’s energy woes within 100 days – or he’ll deliver the 100MW battery storage system for free.

    On Thursday, Lyndon Rive, Tesla’s vice-president for energy products, told the AFR the company could install the 100-300 megawatt hours of battery storage that would be required to prevent the power shortages that have been causing price spikes and blackouts in the state.

    Thanks to stepped-up production out of Tesla’s new Gigafactory in Nevada, he said it could be achieved within 100 days.

    Mike Cannon-Brookes, the Australian co-founder of Silicon Valley startup Atlassian, on Friday tweeted Elon Musk, asking if Tesla was serious about being able to install the capacity.

    Musk replied that the company could do it in 100 days of the contract being signed, or else provide it free, adding: “That serious enough for you?”

    SA Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young replied to Musk: “Let’s talk!”

    Rive, Musk’s cousin who co-founded with him the solar energy outfit SolarCity, had said Tesla’s battery technology could address the power shortfall from the Hazelwood power plant closure in Victoria, as well as SA’s blackouts.

    “We don’t have 300MWh sitting there ready to go but I’ll make sure there are,” he told the AFR.

    Tesla recently completed an installation of an 80MWh grid-scale battery farm in southern California within just 90 days, which cost $100m US.

    Repeated blackouts in SA since September last year have sparked a political brawl over energy policy, with the federal government blaming the failures on the use of renewable technologies. The most recent blackout was in early February; the Australian Energy Market Operator said there were many factors behind it, including higher demand than anticipated.

    Grid scale battery storage could help to even out price spikes, prevent blackouts and improve reliability across the network.

    The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (Arena) recently approved a $450,000 grant to EnergyAustralia to investigate a pumped hydro energy storage project in the Spencer Gulf. That project has a capacity to produce about 100MW with six to eight hours of storage.

    In comparison, Tumut 3 hydroelectric station, Australia’s largest pumped hydro storage, has a capacity of 1,500 megawatts.
    https://www.theguardian.com/technolo...ys-or-its-free

  2. #2
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    Takeovers's Avatar
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    I am not so sure that batteries are the solution to all our energy problems but maybe they can solve some.

  3. #3
    Thailand Expat

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    Build a decent nuclear power plant. Simple really.

  4. #4
    Thailand Expat

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    What could possibly go wrong?...

  5. #5
    Thailand Expat VocalNeal's Avatar
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    Sri Lanka has a similar problem. Why didn't he offer to fix their's?

    It sounds like a temporary short term solution. In Wales UK they pump water at night uphill to the reservoir and release it through the turbines in the daytime.

  6. #6
    Excommunicated baldrick's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Seekingasylum
    Build a decent nuclear power plant. Simple really.
    and build it close to the uranium mine

    south australias problem is it privatised the power - during the last power outage one of the GTs at torrens island power station was not running as the company did not deem it profitable

  7. #7
    In Uranus
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    There is an entire outback for solar panels and wind turbines. Why the shortage?

  8. #8
    Thailand Expat

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    I like that idea....

  9. #9
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    More likely than not that Prick Jay Weatherill will find some excuse to say no to Musks offer in favour of some multi billion dollar pie in the sky suggestion that will never work or be mothballed the same as the Desalination plant that was built in SA at a ridiculous cost and the way the new Adelaide hospital si going that will be obsolete before it see's a patient !

  10. #10
    Thailand Expat VocalNeal's Avatar
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    With the Torrens Island and Pelican Point power stations now slowly increasing their output, the Australian Energy Market Operator is no longer forecasting a lack of power reserve in the state.

    Earlier residents were asked to conserve electricity to avoid potential load-shedding after three units at Torrens went offline following spot fires.
    There is no crisis. So Musk's offer is simply a promotional exercise. He would succeed whatever happened and it would not be of his own doing.

    Now he can concentrate on helping Sri Lanka. Not!

  11. #11
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    The problem, as the Australian Energy Council points out in The Australian today, is self-inflicted. Shortsighted, feelgood policymaking stemming from a belief that low-carbon emissions must be prioritised is largely to blame: over[at]lapping renewable energy targets at the state and federal levels, coupled with looming uncertainty about the future direction of [at]energy policy.

    The closure of the 52-year-old Hazelwood power station in Victoria has taken the equivalent of 5 per cent of electricity supply out of the national electricity market. Hazelwood has a capacity of about 1600 megawatts — a unit of power used to measure electricity output. Taking Hazelwood out of commission alone will push up power bills by $78 a year by 2019, according to AEMC.

    South Australia’s Northern power station closure last year took 554MW out of the market, also pushing up prices. A slew of ageing fossil fuel power plants have quit the market and another handful of coal power stations are set to close over the next decade, including Liddell in NSW, which provides enough power for about one million homes.

    The National Electricity Market started in 1998 as part of the far-reaching competition reforms, overseen by Fred Hilmer, which prompted the privatisation and/or corporatisation of state-owned electricity assets. The market was set up to allow trade in electricity across southern and eastern Australia. The market includes a physical grid with 40,000km of lines and cables that deliver power. It also includes a wholesale “spot” market where power stations and retailers trade power but prices can spike at $14,000/MWh, up from averages ranging from $44/MWh in Victoria to $106/MWh in South Australia.

    The market operates round the clock by generators “bidding” to the Australian Energy Market Operator to offer electricity for five-minute increments. AEMO selects the cheapest available generation for each five-minute block. When the NEM was set up, it was expected that price signals from the market would encourage [at]investors to build new capacity when it was needed.

    “The system was meant to make sure most efficient units came on first and most expensive came on last, and it’s pretty much done that,” says Hilmer, who [at]recently stood down as vice-chancellor of the University of NSW.

    “But here comes the problem, and this wasn’t a problem 25 years ago: people want a renewables strategy or a green energy, so they don’t want a market that runs on most efficient cost performance,


    I heard this on the radio and I,m sure they said over $14000 per Gigawatt.
    Anyway got my BBQ sauce from here Nocookies | The Australian

  12. #12
    Thailand Expat David48atTD's Avatar
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    Let me simplify the issues for you all, particularly those living outside Australia.

    Like the USA, Australia has a very strong 'States' system of government. Above the 'States' Government hovers the Federal Government.

    Electricity is usually done at a 'State' level. South Australia, the State in question, recently had a HUGE power blackout ... and I mean HUGE.

    Hospitals were forced to close, IVF clinics lost embryos when the systems went down.


    SA ... South Australia had a HUGE reliance on 'Renewables' ... wind power etc.

    And they had one 'inter-connector' a high voltage power line which it was meant to brovide 'back-up' in-case the renewables went 'down'.

    Well, the wind stopped blowing in the right places ... or, blew too hard, I'm not sure, the others (renewables) gave up the ghost.

    The great white knight ... the interstate inter-connector (an interstate high voltage electricity power line) went from looking like this ...



    then a big storm hit and lit looked exactly like this ...



    ... and the only thing that toppled the tower was the wind shear force ... I've never seen anything like that, outside of a cyclone.


    Sooo ... it's a huge political debate between the various level of Governments, State and Federal which are politically opposed to reconcile.


    Along comes Tesla, looking for a showcase project for their Marketing Department ... and you have the News Story in the OP.


    As an aside, looking at the cost of installing the battery packs on a household level, the 'payback' period to where the cost of installation is less then the cost savings from buying electricity from the grid is currently in excess of 10 years.

    Personally, I believe that the 'home battery' will become common place, but it will take a few years before the cost of installation becomes fiscally viable for the 'average consumer'.


    ME? I have solar panels on the roof of my house in the West. 1.5 KW inverter ... but 80% more panels then suggested. NO Solar Hot water, we are just carefull about the hot water use and don't use the Air-con much ... Lulu would not be happy, the aircons, when we use them, are set to 25C ...

    Haven't had a power bill in years, maybe 3 years +.

    SWEET ...
    .
    Last edited by David48atTD; 13-03-2017 at 01:18 PM.
    Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago ...


  13. #13
    Thailand Expat VocalNeal's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by David48atTD
    Along comes Tesla, looking for a showcase project for their Marketing Department ... and you have the News Story in the OP.
    Yep. Put it better than I did.

  14. #14
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    It must be said that Australia is pretty shit when it comes to power.
    The NT is terrible as well, and terribly expensive.
    More blackouts in Darwin than here in the middle of nowhere northern Thailand.

  15. #15
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    The dumb Labor/Green mantra of 50%renewables has been shown up for the con that it is.
    SA has for years relied on Vic brown coal elect power to back up their dream.
    Now Vic is shutting down it's coal fired station,ordered by the state Labor/Green pack of wankers,won't to be able to supply their dopey mates in SA when the sun or wind does not generate power.
    Musk's 100mwh battery system would keep SA's total power need on a average Sat arvo
    supplied for 3.6 mins before recharge or 4270 houses for 24 hours.
    Power supply delivery and costs in SA have rocketed,any business that needs guaranteed
    power now has stand-by generators plus any quotes for business elect have gone up 100/200%.
    A mate just bought a $22,000 generator and fuel back up for his shop,insurance won't cover him anymore,he would lose his entire stock in another prolonged blackout.

  16. #16
    Thailand Expat Slick's Avatar
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    Elon Musk’s pledge to fix South Australia’s energy issues prompts Ukrainian PM to get

    ...in touch

    Elon Musk's pledge to fix South Australia's energy crisis within 100 days, or do it for free if he doesn't meet the deadline, has prompted calls from citizens of New Zealand and the Ukrainian prime minister for the billionaire to bring similar projects to their own countries.

    Storms have caused severe blackouts in the Australian state leading to price spikes with local energy firms struggling to meet demand as a result of damage to infrastructure. SolarCity is an energy firm Musk founded with his cousin Lyndon Rive. It recently merged with Tesla, the car company Musk is CEO of.

    Rive told Australian news site AFR last week that SolarCity could provide the energy storage required through the battery technology it produces and this would be possible within 100 days. Mike Cannon-Brookes, the Australian founder of Nasdaq-listed tech firm Atlassian asked Musk on Twitter if this was a real bet. Musk replied that it was, adding that if the company couldn't do it within 100 days, the contract would be free. SolarCity makes solar solutions for areas which can store up energy during the day and feed that back into an area's grid.

    The promise was applauded by Australians including Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who thanked Musk on Twitter for an "in-depth discussion".

    Now citizens from other countries have taken to social media to ask Musk to bring his technology to their countries. A user by the name of @5AllanLeVito urged Musk to bring a similar project to Ukraine. Musk replied "sure", and laid out the cost.

    The price Musk quoted was the same figure he had told Cannon-Brooks for the South Australia project - $250 per kWh (kilowatt-hour) for 100 MWh-plus (megawatt-hour) systems. Musk's response prompted Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman to ask for Musk to talk the proposal "over in details".

    And Matthew Warner, a co-founder at agricultural technology firm Acuris Systems, asked the Tesla CEO if he could come to New Zealand, where the entrepreneur is based. Musk replied that he is "looking forward to it", adding that his favorite book is the "Lord of the Rings". The movie version of the trilogy was filmed in New Zealand and Musk said he wants to visit.
    https://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/14/elon...for-talks.html

  17. #17
    Thailand Expat
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    Quote Originally Posted by reddog
    Musk's 100mwh battery system would keep SA's total power need on a average Sat arvo
    It is worse than that - actually 4 minutes of peak time electricity for SA

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