there's less to tesla's big australian battery deal than meets the eye - ess energy storage system
No one will be surprised to learn that Elon Musk is a promotion master, and on Friday, Tesla was selected as the winning bidder for the installation of the "world's largest power grid" project, attracting the attention of the global media.
"Scale batteries" in southern Australia ".
It shouldn't be a surprise for anyone who pays attention to the promoter's claim that the details are not as exciting as the headlines, and is more difficult to distinguish.
Where does the story start?
Four months ago, during a crisis in South Australia
Lyden ryve, head of Tesla's energy products division, has repeatedly boasted that his company could provide a quick solution to Australia's power supply problems.
Also on Forbes: South Australia power grid operators said that by adding fast-response power storage, they can provide 100 MW of electricity in 1 to 3 hours, and their system dilemma can be
It is speculated that the stored electricity is enough to eliminate the fluctuation caused by the change of wind speed.
It is obvious that the size of the 100 MWhr battery and the 300 MWhr battery is 3 times different.
However, in an interview with The Australian Financial Review, Mr. Ryf appeared to say that Tesla was interested in offering this range of high-end products.
Drive's confidence in the company's delivery capacity has been supported by Tesla's famous battery production facility, the large Gigabit Plant 1 near Sparks, Nevada.
The fact that Tesla recently installed a 20 MW, 80 MW battery in Southern California reinforces this.
The project was completed in less than three months.
This is part of Southern California Edison's response to the power reliability issue related to the loss of local natural gas storage caused by the huge and difficult to prevent leakage at the Aliso Canyon storage facility.
No doubt, observers have some doubts about Tesla's ability to provide five times the rated power and more than three times the storage capacity of the system to about 8,000 miles away from the company's production base in Nevada than in Southern California.
Ryf has a history of making forward-looking claims, but his record of delivering on those promises is not spotless.
Prior to Tesla's acquisition of SolarCity, which was in financial trouble in August 2016, Linden River had been CEO for 10 years.
He and his brother.
The company was founded with financial support from cousin Elon Musk.
Musk has aroused strong interest in Tesla's desire to help South Australia-and also to promote its new grid line --
Connect the battery by publicly supporting his cousin's proposal.
Real attention
If their company fails to comply with the deadline, getter is in return-Musk promises that it will be free if the system cannot operate within 100 days of contract signing.
How much power will the fully charged battery return to the grid?
How much energy can it store?
As the initial burst of excitement triggered by Musk's proposal began to subside, serious people tried to determine exactly what Musk and Ryf promised to do and estimate the cost of the project.
On Twitter, Musk made an attractive but cautious price estimate of $250/kW
For installation greater than 100 MWhr, hr.
He quickly admitted that the price did not include transportation, installation, taxes or tariffs.
He did not state that the price may not include site-specific engineering, site-appropriate cooling systems or site-specific grid connectivity infrastructure.
Adequate cooling systems are important for high power and energy efficiency.
Dense battery installation.
High discharge rates generate enough heat to damage the battery and its supporting electronic equipment.
Fires and explosions occur more frequently than expected and are at high risk for systems with improper cooling or improper control.
With these additional installation investments, estimated at $500
$600 per kilowatt
Storage for one hour may be closer to reality.
100 MW/300 MWhr lithium installed-
The cost of the Ion power station is between $0. 15 billion. $180 million (
$0. 2 billion against $0. 24 billion)
In the context of meeting the stable needs of the South Australian power system, 300 MW-
The human resources installation does not seem to be affordable.
Prime Minister Jay Weatherill has a total of $0. 55 billion, and Tesla's huge battery is only part of the necessary capabilities.
According to Gizmodo, the system that Tesla will install will provide 129 MW-
The human resources of energy storage capacity, less than half of what Rive originally suggested, can be delivered.
At a discharge rate of 100 MW, the battery will be completely exhausted in less than 80 minutes.
As all phone, tablet or laptop owners should know, completely uninstall Li-ion battery.
It can greatly reduce battery life.
Is the Tesla battery the savior of renewable energy?
The system itself does not solve the problem of the South Australian power grid.
The response plan also includes a new government grant, a $0. 36 billion, 250 MW rapid response gas turbine power plant, this is a bulk power taxpayer designed to encourage the construction of a new privately owned power plant to fund exploration funds for increased gas supply, granting the SA Energy Minister special powers to order the plant to operate, as well as requirements requiring power retailers to purchase fixed parts of electricity from SA generators.
The South Australian government and Tesla declined to provide details of the total cost of the "world's largest power grid" project.
Connected battery.
Musk admitted that Tesla could lose more than $50 million if it could not finish by the promised deadline.
Linden Ryf, his promise has evolved into a potential game.
Changing the project is not part of the final negotiation and will not be involved in the execution of the project.
He announced in June that he would leave the company, spend more time with his family and possibly start a new business venture next year.
The decision may have nothing to do with the South Australian project.