There has been this buzz in the renewable energy community about Tesla's Gigantic Battery Capacity plant in South Australia especially his big promise, in March, to deliver the $50m project in 100 days or it would be free. This was in response to Australian entrepreneur (and fellow billionaire) Mike Cannon-Brookes on “how serious” he was about the offer. >Replying to @mcannonbrookes Tesla will get the system installed and working 100 days from contract signature or it is free. That serious enough for you? 6:50 pm - 9 Mar 2017 ^{[Source](https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/840032197637685249?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)}
The project was officially kicked off by September 29, 2017, and on Dec. 1, 2017, it was switched on making Elon Musk $50m richer as he had beat his 100 days deadline.
![tesla-worlds-biggest-battery-australia-powerpacks-1.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmboNveQ3KbJ2X5NvEUyu3Q1yqwEeWFCsYDPykRrweCHhX/1512505258539.png) ^{[Source](https://cdn.teslarati.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/tesla-worlds-biggest-battery-australia-powerpacks-1.jpg): Tesla's World's Biggest Battery Powerpacks in Australia}
It is thought to be costing taxpayers about $50m and forms part of the state government’s $550m energy plan.This was in response to the South Australia's irregular power which regularly throws its 1.7m citizen in blackouts.
## Size of The Project The project was already dubbed the biggest attempt on renewable energy supply in this 21st century. The battery is the size of a regular American football field. It is a 100 Mega Watt(MW) Tesla battery storage system that is capable of temporarily powering 30,000 homes in the event of a blackout; since it has a capability of up to 129 megawatt-hours(MWh) of electricity. Talk about a humongous uninterruptible power supply! It is not a single battery as many may erroneously think. It is made up of a scalable connection of battery power packs.
## Major Specification of 100MW System
**AC Voltage** 380-480V 3-Phase ___ **Size** *Batteries* Length: 1,308 mm (51.5") Width: 822 mm (32.4") Height: 2,185 mm (86") about 7 feet 1622 kg (3575 lbs) *Industrial Inverters* Length: 1,014 mm (39.9") Width: 1254 mm (49.4") Height: 2192 mm (86.3") Weight: 1200 kg (2650 lbs) _____ **Energy Capacity Per Powerpack** Capacity210 kWh (AC) _____ **Battery Type** Lithium-ion battery _____ **Depth of discharge** 100% (No surprises here since the battery is a lithium-ion type. Discharging to 100% on a lead-acid battery would result in either total damage or reduced efficiency) ____
This is a scalable system meaning that it could be used to power either a small business or a large corporation. It could serve also as a backup system to the public utility.
## Australia Built For Renewable
This system is just to simply store energy and not an energy generator in itself. The energy is from the windmill farm of [Hornsdale Wind Farm](https://hornsdalewindfarm.com.au/), comprising of 99 windmills on the town of Jamestown in South Australia.
![file-20170711-587-w00atg.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmWTDSASksQadf991vgpkMcRGvxCUaFMwtEL3FUijoZ7vN/file-20170711-587-w00atg.jpg) ^{[Source](https://images.theconversation.com/files/177641/original/file-20170711-587-w00atg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip):A wind farm near Burra, South Australia. AAP Image/Angela Harper}
This is in addition to other renewable sources of energy embarked upon by the South Australians >South Australians have also invested big in rooftop solar. The state is taking serious strides to both become independent of fossil fuels and create a much more stable grid. Between household solar panels, a robust wind farm, diesel-powered turbines, and this mega-battery, the state is well on its way to achieving these goals. ^{[Source](https://futurism.com/tesla-turned-australian-mega-battery/)} Looking at some data comparing the solar production of the continent against other continents below. ![Nasa DNI Data.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmaiEfVTTeMEGhwtcbpBjqUmbGCC8PiZDTvtuyE6UQmc8m/Screenshot%20(70).png) ^{[Source](http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-08-10/solar-coverage-fact-check-is-australia-sunniest-continent/6659316): Direct Normal Irradiance (DNI) and Global Horizontal Irradiation of different continents} Solar coverage is measured using the Global Horizontal Irradiation (GHI) and Direct Normal Irradiance (DNI). **GHI:** Sun's radiation that is gotten by stationary horizontal surfaces such as that from a solar panel mounted on the rooftops of residential buildings.
**DNI:**Radiation collected by solar tracking devices that continuously follow the sun's radiation movement throughout the day.
GHI and DNI can be expressed in kilowatt-hours per square meter per day (kWh/m2/day), which is the average amount of solar energy gotten in one square meter every day. Africa is the only continent relative close to Australia in solar irradiance coverage. That explains their numerous solar-based/renewable projects. I can only hope Africa follows suit and implement some big projects like this Tesla humongous battery project following the dearth of power availability bedeviling many countries in the continent. Ref: [1](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/30/world/australia/elon-musk-south-australia-battery.html) [2](https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/29/elon-musk-battery-plant-south-australia-100-days.html) [3](https://www.tesla.com/en_AU/powerpack?redirect=no) [4](https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/energy/-tesla-installs-worlds-largest-lithium-ion-battery-in-australia.htm)