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Elon Musk hits deadline for big Australian battery

Battery bank
Tesla installed the batteries at Neoen’s Hornsdale Wind Farm in South Australia. (Tesla Illustration)

It’s a rare day when Tesla CEO Elon Musk actually finishes a job before the deadline, but that’s what happened with the massive 100-megawatt battery bank that his company built in South Australia.

The world’s largest lithium-ion battery bank has now been fully installed at Neoen’s Hornsdale Wind Farm and is set to be energized for the first time in a matter of days, South Australia’s state government announced today.

In response to a plea from Australian billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes, Musk promised in July to get the array of Powerpacks installed within 100 days of signing a grid connection agreement, or else the job would be done for free.

Musk had some wiggle room: By the time the agreement was actually signed on Sept. 29, Tesla had already completed half the project. Nevertheless, he was taking a risk on a project that’s thought to cost tens of millions of dollars.

Tonight Musk tweeted his congratulations to the team.

Get the full story from GeekWire.

By Alan Boyle

Mastermind of Cosmic Log, contributor to GeekWire and Universe Today, author of "The Case for Pluto: How a Little Planet Made a Big Difference," past president of the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing.

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