Green Thumbs

If you’ve ever doubted the power of social media, consider this: a series of tweets sent by Tesla CEO Elon Musk in March 2017 led to the creation of the world’s largest battery.

That 100-megawatt capacity Powerpack battery storage system was officially turned on in South Australia on December 1, 2017, after a speedy 100-day build. Now, AFR is reporting that Tesla has been tapped by the Australian state of Victoria to build another massive battery system Down Under.

The new project won’t be quite as robust as the last, nor will it adhere to Musk’s previously “100 days or it’s free” guarantee. This 20 MW battery system will be designed to support the yet-to-be-built Bulgana Green Power Hub, a 204-MW wind farm in Western Victoria, and won’t come online until mid-2019.

Developing the Bulgana Wind Farm is French renewable energy company Neoen. They were also responsible for the development of the Hornsdale Wind Farm paired with Tesla’s battery in South Australia, so a relationship with Musk’s company is already established.

Power for the People

The battery in South Australia was built specifically for the purpose of addressing the state’s unreliable power grid and ensuring that its citizens are never without electricity.

The one in Bulgana, however, will primarily support the 40-hectare Nectar Farms glasshouse in Stawell, though Neoen’s managing director Franck Woitiez did tell Electrek it could eventually be connected to the state’s grid.

As we’ve seen recently in Puerto Rico, Australia, and other parts of the globe, energy insecurity is a major issue facing the modern world.

By transitioning to renewable sources of energy, we can avoid the power outages caused by natural disasters and warming temperatures while simultaneously addressing the carbon emissions at the root of climate change. That’s something worth tweeting about.