Elon Musk's Australian Battery Bounced Back From Crisis in Record Time

Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk’s 100 megawatt lithium-ion battery in South Australia just pulled itself out of a jam with incomprehensible speed.

The International Business Times reports that last week, the Loy Yant power plant in Victoria suffered a failure “leading to a power cut.” Thankfully, Musk’s battery, which was installed in South Australia earlier this month, was able to help out, pumping out 100 megawatts of power to the national electricity grid within 140 milliseconds. Not bad for the battery’s first big test.

“That’s a record and the national operators were shocked at how quickly and efficiently the battery was able to deliver this type of energy into the market,” South Australian State Energy Minister Tom Koutsantonis reportedly told 5AA Radio in Adelaide.

Back in March, Musk made a promise on Twitter to help South Australia with its myriad power woes by installing the battery within 100 days, or it’d get its money back. In 2016, the state suffered a widespread power outage and reportedly has the most expensive electricity in Australia.

The countdown for building the world’s biggest battery started in September, and Tesla delivered in only about two months, making excellent time. The project is estimated to cost around $50 million, and is made up of Tesla PowerPacks.

While $50 million isn’t chump change, it’s just a small part of the state’s plan to completely revitalize its energy supply. Officials say the total cost will be about $550 million. So while Tesla’s big battery is a big step toward achieving that goal, there’s a long way to go.

For now, we say congrats, Elon.