$62m Tesla battery for NSW
Tesla is to build a new battery worth $62 million in western Sydney, to help stabilise the electricity grid as the amount of renewable energy being poured into the system ramps up.
One of the questions you’ll often hear from EV naysayers is “but where is all this power going to come from?”. This battery is part of the answer, with the Federal Government’s Australian Renewable Energy Agency tipping in $11.5m towards the costa and another $10m coming from the NSW Government.
The giant Tesla battery – think a Powerwall but on a much vaster scale, like 50-75MWh – will be built at TransGrid’s Wallgrove substation.
The battery is vital because, again as naysayers like to point out, the wind doesn’t always blow and the sun doesn’t always shine, and when that doesn’t happen, to maintain a constant flow of power when it’s required, you need a very big battery.
Tesla has already helped out in Australia, building a giant battery in South Australia.
Federal Energy and Emissions Reduction Minister Angus Taylor said the battery was part of the government’s low-emissions Technology Roadmap.
“This project will test the role and capability of batteries to bolster the grid, helping to improve the technology,” Taylor said.
NSW Energy Minister Matt Kean added that the battery would “bring more wind and solar into our electricity system”.
“it is cutting-edge big battery projects like the Wallgrove grid battery that will help to maintain reliability and keep the lights on across the state,” Kean said.
