Last year, in November, the company Ilona Mask Tesla Inc.
completed the construction of the giant station Hornsdale Power Reserve on Tesla Powerpack batteries and inverters manufactured at Gigafabrika 1 in Nevada. The work was carried out in South Australia, with the completion of the project, from the arrival of the Tesla team in Australia to the completion of construction, was only three months.
The businessman promised to deploy the system at 100 MW / 129 MW · h over the period indicated above. Otherwise, Musk would pay everything from his own pocket. In spite of the fact that in some cases the companies of the entrepreneur do not meet deadlines, in this case everything was done according to the original plan. At the moment, Hornsdale Power Reserve is the world's largest rechargeable unit and even the regulator is pleased with it.
Last week, the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO)
released a report that provided preliminary assessments of the performance of the battery system. As far as one can understand, representatives of the regulator positively assess the installation, describing it as “fast and reliable, comparable in its characteristics to a traditional
synchronous generator ”.
In fact, the regulator means generators installed in coal-fired or natural gas power stations. In some countries, they are used only when it is necessary to generate more electricity than usual. For example, during peak hours, electricity consumption, when the resources of the main energy infrastructure are not enough.
But in order to start work, such a system takes some time. But the installation Mask "starts" instantly, the batteries give up the accumulated energy immediately, there is practically no delay between the request and the start of work. In this case, a giant battery complex can give up all stored electricity in just 75 minutes. Then the batteries themselves are already charging - partly electricity is generated by a wind power plant located nearby.
So far, there were no emergency situations in the region where the battery was located, so there was no opportunity to test the system in field conditions. Nevertheless, it is still
involved in a fairly serious project, the purpose of which is to maintain the standard 50 Hz in the electrical network without significant deviations in one direction or another. Lowering the frequency below 49 Hz can lead to a power outage in the whole region.
December 18 in Australia there was an accident. Then the 689 MW coal-fired power plant in New South Wales was cut off, which caused a shortage of power in the network. This shutdown did not entail any very negative consequences, as they covered the shortage with the help of reserve capacities at other enterprises. The frequency of the current was kept at 49.5 Hz. If the situation developed further, then a complete blackout could occur in a very large region.
Battery Tesla helps very accurately maintain the frequency of the current in the network. The battery system reacts to changes in the situation very quickly, bringing all the indicators back to normal. Australia has a lot of wind and solar power plants. But their work depends on external factors. The battery system allows you to smooth out the jumps in the generated power of these power plants, storing energy during the maximum generation level. At the time of maximum power consumption and maximum price for electricity, the battery gives up the accumulated electricity, which allows its operator to also earn some money.
Currently, a specialized service monitors the operation of the battery system, noting its excellent functionality.