I'm in no position to judge the economics of this versus other ways of storing energy.
But the scale of this makes it an ideal demonstration of battery technology, even if it doesn't "pay" in strictly economic terms.
It sometimes takes something big to spark the public imagination and help a technology to take off. Nothing is guaranteed, any more than the Wright Brothers' flight, or the launch of Sputnik. Neither was "economic", but both changed things for ever.
8
And I thought it was only President Trump and our Republican congress that was still charging on the coal front. Sad to see Australia's government is pretty much the same.
12
That is the unfortunate, and wrong, impression implied in the article. However, the facts are that coal-fired baseload power generation plants are steadily closing across Australia and no new ones are under construction or planned.
Our Federal Govt is quite rightly assessing the rate of closure of coal baseload plants compared to the rising rate of renewables, given that this is the main cause of the power system instability in South Australia, where I live. While a few individual politicians with agendas are calling for new coal plants, it’s more likely that natural gas-fired peaking plants will be built to maintain a stable and reliable supply (and maintain our commitment to Kyoto) until renewables and associated technologies can do the same on their own.
6
Look up "Adani Mine" or "Adani Carmichael Mine" and see how their coal barons have been continuing to try to push a risky, expensive project from an India company - at a time when India has begun cancelling planned coal plants in favor of solar.
1
I was very impressed with Musk on a recent episode of 60 Minutes here in Australia. The Australian version of that show is usually a "lite" version of its American cousin but when the interviewer told Musk that some Australians have to go without life's basics in order to cover their electricity bills, he seemed genuinely concerned. You might be able to stream the episode on the Channel 9 website but Musk paused for a few seconds and said, "Oh, I didn't know that." He paused again and then said, "We will work harder."
And the pauses didn't seem to be moments where he was thinking, "How can I make money from this situation?" There was an earnestness in his face that seemed to only ask, "How can I solve this problem?"
21
It will be very interesting to see how this works (or doesn't).
1
It would be a wonderful thing to have a 30 day battery backup at every nuclear power plant, Fukushima could have been a different deal.
3
How would it have been different? The unexpected Tsunami would certainly have flooded out and shorted batteries too.
4
The problem was that the backup was not sufficient hardened when compared to the potential impacts of its failure. In other words, backup for nuclear reactor that is predicted to experience an 8.5 earthquake better be hardened to withstand a 9.8.
1
This is not an article about powering homes. This is about taking one step towards stabilizing a large under-powered electrical grid. THIS IS A QUICK FIX as the state was experiencing blackouts during peak demand periods and you can't bring new power plants on line in 100 days. The battery helps regulate the flow of various sources of electricity including solar, wind and fossil generation so during peak demand if the grid is over capacity the batteries can supplement the grid to help meet demand. when demand is lower the batteries are not needed for power and recharge. Is this a complete fix - NO the battery isn't big enough to completely eliminate the problem. Is it the most cost effective fix - NO, while its cheaper and cleaner than building new power plants you can store more power for less money by using water retainage systems (see below). HOWEVER this is an impressive feat, both in terms of the size of the installation and the speed in which it's been completed as well as it's immediate positive impact in helping to stabilize the power grid as summer begins. This is why it's newsworthy.
Water Retainage System - two lakes, one high, one low, you pump water to the high lake during non peak times and then let the water flow down to the lower lake, through a generator station during peak demand. its a proven technology but takes a long time to build and takes up a LOT more land than this football field.
13
"you can't bring new power plants on line in 100 days"
No, but you can put a lot of solar PV on a lot of roofs.
3
I think the battery delivery is great. But there are many other ways to store energy less expensively with a longer life span.
Given that South Australia uses a fair amount of air conditioning, it is worth making ice when variable power sources such as wind and solar are at their peak, then using that ice in the off-periods when there is little solar or wind power.
If the ice is used to substitute for efficient air conditioning, needing 0.5 kWh for every 12,000 BTU of cooling (a refrigerator-ton, so-called because it produces 1 ton of ice per day at this hourly rate), a ice-containing hole 100 meters on a side and 7 meters deep, using counter-flow heat exchange to re-cool circulating water returned at 58 degrees F, displaces the need for 1 GWh of electricity, nearly 8 times the capacity of the Tesla battery at a lot lower cost, albeit for a restricted use. (Sorry for the mix of metric and English units, but these are the numbers I have at hand.)
2
Making ice is a good solution in concentrated, singular locations, as AC does not travel well. The Australian AC demand is scattered widely over subdivisions and urban areas. I don't think this approach is economic.
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While an ice pool works best for a concentration of buildings or single large building using the same chillers, I would think that electric rates reflecting the necessity of discarding some wind/solar power unused would make this feasible even for homes with central AC.
I agree it isn't practical when individual window or through-the-wall AC units are used, as a half-day supply of ice for a 12,000 BTU/hour unit takes up half a cubic meter and weighs 460 kg.
It's a solution. But it's not an economic or scalable solution.
This is the mess you get into when wind or solar are a significant part of your energy supply. There will be blackouts when the wind doesn't blow or the sun doesn't shine. The cost of energy storage to prevent this will be much greater than the cost of the wind power turbines that made this problem.
The future of energy is natural gas, available in effectively unlimited quantity at competitive prices. Mostly exported from the US.
5
You, and some others here, have missed the purpose of this battery installation. It isn't primarily to store energy for when the wind doesn't blow but, rather, to buffer the grid for demand spikes during peak usage periods, especially the coming summer AC season in South Australia. This should prevent brownouts and blackouts during high demand spikes and that has considerable value for making a reliable grid. Using batteries for this purpose is cheaper than using peaker power plants in many cases. It is very different from using batteries just for storing solar or wind power for when the sun isn't shining or the wind isn't blowing.
13
Jonathan, as you don't know the economics of this deal you are speaking without support. Tesla delivered these batteries at a price that was accepted by prudent people. And battery prices are expected to continue to drop with several mega-battery factories under construction. And scalability does not appear to be a problem here if Tesla can deliver in 30k household chunks in 100 days.
11
Please, please, please stop gratifying Musk's ego with all the free publicity. Please. It's worse than the Steve Jobs worship.
3
No, he's not God. He thinks big though. That is needed. He seems to see the forest and the trees. Him getting a big ego (and yes, I know big egos can potentially cause damage) seems to be a minor side-effect of all the possibilities of some of his work.
10
I cannot and will not accept any new technology unless it can be proven that it is flawless, works perfectly the first time and needs no improvements.
If the NYT continues to publish articles like this without technical data sheets, blueprints, patent applications, cost estimates, governmental studies and peer reviews; what's the point in reading them?
11
You are correct. This article should have been set to be published next year, after 1 full year of operational success. Too soon for us to hear about this !
1
So you are against nuclear power, coal-fired plants and the electric supply grid, none of which is flawless, works perfectly, and needs no improvements?
In fact, any new technical innovation?
1
My cell phone does not work perfectly is not flawless and needs improvements, and every human I know has one. Get real my friend.
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"“More than 40 percent of South Australia’s electricity is coming from wind, which is good,” said Tony Wood". Like you said, their energy bills are "astronomical". Solar and Wind are MUCH MORE expensive than conventional sources. That's why its BAD for America and the world. I want low energy prices, and I don't want to see all of those UGLY wind mills all over the mountains and off the shoreline. STOP THE MADNESS! And Musk is not doing "good for humanity", he is making a huge profit and exploiting people and nations.
5
Well, none of that is true.
1) Conventional sources are much more exensive when you factor in all the costs.
2) If you want low energy prices, go for an electrical supply system based on renewable technology that doesn't have to constantly pay for feedstock.
3) Ugly windmills? as opposed to smoke-belching coal burners? Really? You want cheap energy but no sign of generation? Maybe underground unicorn-powered turbines are on your list of OKs?
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You're so right! No gas or oil corporations make profits, everyone knows that these companies are non-profit and oriented towards the good of all. We especially know that anything that has not been in place for a least a hundred years (in terms of technology) should be considered viable! And Musk is SO WEIRD, he must be the only bazillionaire who isn't doing things for 'the good of humanity' - he should be taking the Koch brothers and Trump as an example of how to help others. How can people be so stupid when its so obvious??!
16
Patrick, you are not correct.
""Wind power economics are driving coal generation up the dispatch curve and into earlier retirement," says Jairo Chung, a Moody's analyst. "Around 56 gigawatts of regulated coal-fired capacity in the Midwest has operating costs that are higher than the all-in costs of new wind power."
In the Great Plains states, the average long-term all-in power purchase agreement price for wind power is around $20/MWh. On a comparable basis, the majority of the coal-fired power generation in the same region has operating costs higher than $30/MWh."
https://www.moodys.com/research/Moodys-Utilities-increasingly-adding-low...
Maybe you were right 10 years ago, but wind, solar and storage are all continuing rapid reductions in cost. That, combined with advances in power electronics and systems that provide good next-day predictions of solar and wind resource is making renewable electricity cheaper and cheaper.
Look up Lazard's LCOE reports, even combined-cycle gas generation will be feeling the pinch soon enough - already is in some places.
6
If Musk offered this same deal on a Tesla model 3, I might be persuaded to purchase one.
7
Musk will do more for humanity in his lifetime than all of the worlds politicians put together.
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No, he is a confidence man, peddling Ponzi schemes that rival Madoff's.
2
To be fair, he sells actual cars at actual prices, and the people who buy those cars seem pretty pleased with them. He also makes spacecraft that, while maybe overhyped, have delivered actual supplies to an actual space station.
16
and let's not forget that Mr. Musk invented paypal...
1
If I were a betting man, I would say that based on the performance of Musk endeavors and challenging the arrogance of "What's Good for GM is good for the Country;" and "We don't make cars we make money;" landing a launch vehicle on a floating barge competing with NASA, my money would be on the Musk-Meister. Factoid: electric vehicles are Not allowed to compete in drag racing because they are Too Damn Quick and would not be fair competing against the internal combustion engine. Motorheads, correct me if I am wrong. I would buy a home battery system if they were not backlogged because of the implementation of Elon's Australia Project. Promoting fossil fuels? I hear slavery is coming back as well in some backwards, tribal dystopian places.
21
There's always something a bit brutish and oddly simplistic about an Elon Musk idea. Traffic congestion in LA? just dig dozens of commuting tunnels.
There's a difference between thinking big and thinking bigly. Mr. Musk is a bigly visionary.
4
"Traffic congestion in LA? just dig dozens of commuting tunnels."
That's expensive and not a good idea in an area which suffers lots of earthquakes.
It's easy to force commuters to take rapid transit: Make the price of driving on a freeway, during certain hours, exorbitant!
Battery technology is the linchpin for fighting global warming and eliminating dependence on fossil fuels.
We should all be very proud and in awe of what Mr Musk and Tesla are achieving in South Australia. Go Elon!
15
And where do you dispose of the batteries? Can't just throw them in the trash and dump them in a landfill, you know...
Jane, batteries will be recycled.
7
Depends on the battery type and chemistry.
Great news for Tesla, Musk and renewable energy efforts. Already there are efforts elsewhere to go one better by building an even bigger battery. Hyundai Electric & Energy Systems is building a 150-megawatt unit, 50% larger than Musk's, that will go live in about three months in Ulsan, South Korea.
Too bad for us that our government is in the grips of petro-barons.
36
Energy storage is measured in megawatt-hours. Megawatts only describe how fast energy can be drawn from it.
3
If you Google the story, the Ulsan battery appears universally described as a 150-megawatt system (no hours). You'll probably want to Track down the South Korean government and give them heck for not using suitable units when describing their project. Kudos for ignoring the obvious and dwelling on the insignificant.
1
It's so nice to read about a billionaire that is concerned about something other than their next yacht purchase or in dodging taxes. Funny how the good ones lean to the left.
28
Seriously NYT - We need different numbers to judge this. How much ENERGY can the battery store in energy units such as BTU or MWH. I only see a POWER number in a tweet of 100MW, but we need an ENERGY number. Saying that it can power 30,000 homes is meaningless, since batteries store energy. For all we know, it can power 30,000 homes for 4 seconds. (power*time=energy).
16
Here you go "On Friday, Tesla switched on the massive 100MW, 129MWh battery installation it built in South Australia, just as the state is about to head into the grid-taxing summer season."
https://arstechnica.com/cars/2017/12/tesla-beats-deadline-switches-on-gi...
7
The report indicated it has a capacity of about 100MWe (and a cost of about $50M). Therefore, it is estimated it could power 30,000 homes for 1 hour. However in operation it would rarely need to operate from fully charged to empty, instead it would likely serve to slowly charge from the excess margin between production and demand in the off peak hours, and then slowly discharge during peak demand to supplement the existing power generation at that time. For this reason, it may be more correct to say that it will provide power to an additional 4,000 homes every day than would have been possible otherwise, and all for $0 in additional fuel cost.
18
Thanks B fagan. This is very helpful.
2
This article lacks any evidence that the reporter either asked, or cared about, critical questions. 30,000 homes - for how long? An hour, a day, a week, an extended period where it is dreary and still over a wide area? These are objective questions with objective answers, not a "he said - she said" opinion issue that invites readers to fill-in lacking information with predilections and prejudices, & reach conclusions based on vaguely-sourced, but strong, feelings about competing spokespeople, based on whether they seem to align with one's "tribe". Why not just have Tesla guarantee no blackouts, if that is the real promise? The unstated and unexplained theory is that this amount of storage would be sufficient to ensure Australia's blackout problem is solved. In reality, blackouts will be avoided, if they are avoided, most likely through increased fossil fuel use and interconnections to energy sources that are mostly human controlled, instead of mostly controlled by weather and diurnal cycles. Addressing issues like those - the issues of most interest to people who actually use, and depend on, electricity - unfortunately seems beyond the interest, or perhaps the competency, of the reporter. Climate, energy, emissions and potential solutions are serious issues that deserve serious attention and searching questioning. Instead the NYT posts and promotes another Tesla and Elon Musk puff piece. Its readers deserve much more thoughtful reporting.
14
I support solar and wind, and I'm excited to see storage solutions--but yes, I'd want to know how long it will power the homes, how it's likely to be used, and how much Tesla was paid for the contract. Those seem like basics. I think commenters have answered the first two questions, but I'd look for all of them in the article, especially the question of how long since 30,000 means nothing without more information.
3
I respectfully disagree with your assessment on fossil fuels except for the relative short term, as I feel science and engineering will get us a lot closer to using solar as efficiently and effectively as the natural process of photosynthesis in plants. However, I absolutely thoroughly agree with your assessment of this as another Elon Musk puff piece. I've grown bone-tired of the way techies worship these guys. Every utterance from a handful of patron saints is treated like the Sermon on the Mount combined with the invention of sliced bread. But hey, we clicked on the article, didn't we?
How much was Tesla paid for the battery?
5
Let's start building big batteries for our own country. Many locations in this country have many brownouts (low voltage) that cause damage to refrigerators, computers and just about anything with an electronic control system. This never gets mentioned but it fuels the appliance industry. Australia already gets 40% of its power from wind, what do we get. Time to make homes self sufficient with batteries charged by solar and wind and cut the cord to the grid.
7
Are you talking about making homes with their own batteries?
Personally, I would not want an attic full of lithium-ion batteries.
Besides the issue of cost, how long would they last?
How would I dispose of these toxic items once they needed to be replaced?
2
"These toxic items" come with pre-planned recycling, per CA law.
10
No, only South Australia gets 40% of its power from wind. Australia wide it's only about 2%.
2
To Musk's credit, he is always willing to put it all on the line (no pun intended.)
It seems that everyone wants 100% guarantees on everything they do. South Australia took a chance and now we will see whether this giant battery works as advertised-- or not.
But taking risk is what humans are good at. It is the leap of faith which moves us forward to the next challenge.
This is a story humans can be proud of--regardless of how it proves out.
45
The first powered flights were only a few hundred feet, so its a good thing the efforts to improve the technology weren't abandoned as impractical. And while non-fossil fuel power generation and storage technologies have a way to go, the only way to get there is by doing and learning from experience.
29
The world moves on with or without the US and their clean coal strategy.
25
US does not have a clean coal strategy, thanks to Trump.
Some how Musk built the worlds most valuable electric car company and the first private rocket company that now completes with NASA.
I would think people here would be hoping for success and progress, not just tearing it down because you can't understand it.
Anyone like to have a Tesla Model S?
25
“He needs this to justify the entire reason of Tesla’s existence.”
Great sound bite but as always with these pretty little phrases people like to repeat without thinking - Not quite.
Musk's already got a profitable battery business now, and he also, I hear through the grapevine, has a profitable car business.
9
I'm a happy shareholder!
5
Fact 1: Earth will run out of coal and oil (unless all organic life forms were instantly replaced by silicon-based life). Not a negotiable or political item just a consequence of the fundamental laws of entropy and consumption.
Fact 2: Human beings seem to be divided into those who get wrapped up in how awful things are versuses those who ask “What can we do about it.”
Kudos to Australia and Musk for trying to do something. There will be fits and starts, wrong turns, and, if things go as often happens in Australia, new ideas.
Thanks for drawing my attention to something important going under the radar.
79
Yes, I remember a certain yacht. Irrefutably, the world has to come up with alternatives to creating power without consuming non-renewable resources.
Elon Musk is the transformative technological genius of the 21st century. He's ushering in the solar era of power generation, to replace the petroleum era. It's digital replacing analog. It is the future, and it's a bright future.
27
One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. Congratulations Australia and Mr musk and his truly incredible team!
23
Truly an inspirational endeavor. It's time the rest of us stop wasting money on toys and do something useful.
12
“30,000 South Australian households could not get through watching one episode of ‘Australia’s Ninja Warrior’ with this big battery,’ said Scott Morrison, the country’s treasurer.”
Australia’s treasurer is apparently more energy-aware than the governor of California and most in state government here, who have succumbed to the prevailing foolishness solar and wind energy can be stored in big batteries to get us through those inconvenient times like...night.
It can’t. Because batteries sufficient to deliver 250 gigawatthours of energy, a typical day’s consumption in our state, would cost over $700 billion - roughly five times our annual budget. They’d need to be replaced every ten years. We’d need to assume consumption would never grow, and that Californians would be willing to go without power indefinitely, should nature present us with a single day of cloudy, windless weather.
Grid engineers and climatologists understand these things even if many in government don’t. In California, Australia, or anywhere else: to trust the advice of venture capitalists for advice on solutions to climate change, over that of experts, is a catastrophically reckless course of action. Because if you wrap it up in a big pretty bow, some people will believe just about anything.
7
And they said you can't go to the moon.
Nice post unfortunately most of your facts are wrong and based on old assumptions and technologies.
Independent of people like you the world will move forward. Stay tuned,
18
The assumption in this comment that these storage units would have to be replaced every ten years is a fallacy. It ignore on going research and development into technology. It is important to ground test and use what is available now to learn what works and what does not. Projects like the Australian battery will contribute to better technology. If we are afraid to experiment and take risks we will never improve. In ten years the replacement unit may be smaller and more efficient. This is hardly a failure.
37
I just bought two sets of solar powered spotlights to illuminate our little town's signs. Work great. Cheap, No wires. No electrician needed. Weighs 'bout 1lb. If every house had solar power and a battery, we would not need a grid, except for mass transit. US Military going to solar and biofuels. Seems they anticipate a national security issue. Writings on the wall.
6
Always talk about batteries. No journalist that I've come across talks about the conversion of the battery's DC to AC synchronized with the grid. To me, that is the bigger news, that solid state devices can hand such power.
The battery side of things could have been done with enough DieHards.......
1
You don't seem to know much about battery technology, you should read up
5
Integrating multiple sources of energy into a grid is a challenge everywhere, especially as intermittent sources like solar and wind become more prevalent. I was expecting batteries and other storage options would be critical, but thought they might be off in the future. This is a hopeful sign. I share the concern that Mr. Musk promises more than he can deliver and burns through money at an incredible pace as he tries to do everything at once. But I share his concern that unless we change many of the world's coastal cities will be literally underwater. I hope this is a great success.
23
This article is worthless. It is all about the politics. How about explaining how it works, where the batteries were produced, where the electricity that charges it comes from, how long will the battery be effective? What is the end of it? Basically nothing here worth anything. Now in the US batteries would be most valuable for regulating our grid which I bet is more complex than this.
14
At least while the rest of the world is consumed with hate and political fights, someone is trying to do something positive.
A couple of years ago everyone said you couldn't build an electric car, any one like to have a Tesla model S?
5
It also would be nice to know if the $50M prices is US or Australian dollars.
Batteries only last for a certain amount of time. Then they have to be disposed of.
3
generalissimo: what a insight: nothing lasts forever. Ever hear of recycling? Are you aware that power plants and even your car will eventually wear out?
8
Fossil fuels will only last a certain amount of time. And then we'll all be dead
6
I am pretty sure that I can say - without concern - that nothing yet manufactured by man lasts forever.
There are only a few universal laws - entropy is one of them.
3
This report says that the battery will power 30,000 homes, but...for how long?
Another news source reported that when fully charged the battery would power 30,000 homes for 1 hour.
If true, why did the NYT omit this information?
And, how long does the battery take to fully recharge? How long does the wind have to blow, and at what strength to recharge the battery?
32
The battery isn't to replace power generation. As stated in the article: "The battery would give it a bank of saved energy, which could ease pressure during periods of high demand and help better manage the electrical grid." Blackouts/brownouts are a common problem in any area where air-conditioning is necessary and widely used. The battery is not a replacement; it's designed to assist regular power generation during peak usage hours.
4
And ow long will it take for the CO2 being dumped into the atmosphere by burning fossil carbon to be sequestered?
Isn't this the same type of battery that can overheat and blow up your phone? What would a similar mishsp with a battery the size of a football field be like?
8
That is a bit like saying that gas you're putting in your car is the same stuff they use in molotov cocktails to burn down buildings.
7
It is the same stuff.
You go, Elon Musk! I believe in your move to electrification + clean energy no matter your stock prices. The concept + ethics are good!
10
This is extremely exciting! Renewables and batteries are the wave of the future. I hope it works!
3
As a former investor in innovative wind projects, I have learned a bit about the technology. Storage is essential to making alternative energies effective and economic. The simple fact is that there is no power produced when the sun doesn't shine or the wind doesn't blow (or blows too hard.) At this time, there has to be a kilowatt of backup fossil fuel generating capacity for every kilowatt of wind or solar capacity, the cost of which is seldom included in the cost studies justifying alternatives. Battery backup may be one solution, but football fields of toxic lithium ion batteries will have their own environmental challenges. I wish Mr. Musk luck, but trendy and politically correct does not equal more efficient or environmentally better.
33
And there are many other ways to store electricity, all have issues. Flywheels, hydro, compressed air, are among those that can be used.
7
Readers should remember that hydroelectric power, along with power from wind, biological matter, garbage, coal, oil and gas are all using stored solar energy, with the fossil fuel forms having a very very long recharge cycle.
Those who think that renewables can not meet our needs, hence we must carry on using fossil fuels, are fundamentally saying that we must run a solar energy deficit, borrowing from the energy stored in the distant past rather than living on the bounty of solar energy available somewhere on our planet at all times in many forms.
6
Other countries making technological progress while our President talks about "beautiful, clean coal."
65
As a former sales guy, I love the chutzpah of Mr. Musk. "100 days or it's free." Beautiful!
Now let's hope the engineering and the quality match the promise.
7
You go, Mr. Musk! Go! Next up, Puerto Rico!
62