Indian-born billionaire to break Tesla record of world's biggest battery
Elon Musk's Tesla holds the record for the biggest and the most powerful lithium-ion battery in the world. The company built a 100 megawatt/129 megawatt-hour battery at the Hornsdale Power Reserve in Jamestown, South Australia last year. However, Indian-born British billionaire businessman Sanjeev Gupta soon wants to break that record with a 120 megawatt/140 megawatt-hour battery.
The battery will power a 200-megawatt solar farm
Last August, Gupta bought a steelworks in Whyalla, South Australia, through his firm Liberty House. He now wants to power it with a 200-megawatt solar farm, and thus requires a world-leading battery that will be able to store that kind of energy. If the new upcoming project is successful, Gupta will replace Tesla as the record holder for the world's biggest battery.
The project got a loan of $7.8 million by government
Since the project aims to solve South Australia's power crisis, the government has provided Gupta with a loan of $7.8 million to aid the battery's construction. The solar farm will assist the state in local grid stability. The construction of the solar farm will be carried out by Gupta's clean energy company called Simec Zen Energy.
South Australia's 50% power requirements depend on solar, wind energy
This is the second big-scale power project in South Australia in the last few months. This shows that the government is determined about pursuing renewable energy seriously. Notably, the region's 50% of power requirements currently depend on solar and wind energy.
