Neoen Australia, the owner of the Tesla big battery, or what they prefer to call the Hornsdale Power Reserve, has celebrated its first year of operation with a detailed report of the services it has delivered to the grid, and the savings to consumers.
The Tesla big battery – which at 100MW/129MWh remains the biggest lithium-ion battery in the world – was officially brought into service on December 1 last year, although it was actually operating a day or two before that.
Even Noeon executives say they did not realise just how good the technology would be, and they point to the savings, the speed and accuracy of its response, and its every-day role in maintaining grid security and, in some dramatic examples, how it kept the lights on.
“We always expected it to be fast … I didn’t expect it to be as precise as it is. It really is staggering,” said Garth Heron, the head of product development at Neoen at a special briefing for journalists at the Tesla store in Sydney on Wednesday.
The presentation by Neoen and from consultancy group Aurecon points to the estimated $40 million of savings to consumers from the battery’s everyday activities on the market – mostly in what is called the FCAS market (frequency control and ancillary services).
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