The South Australian government, in partnership with Tesla, recently announced plans to create the world’s largest virtual power plant. Over four years, 50,000 homes will be outfitted with 5kW solar panels and 13.5 kWh Tesla Powerwall 2 batteries, which also happen to be the world’s largest lithium batteries. Eleven hundred pubic housing properties will be the first to be outfitted in a trial run. All of these installations will be free of charge, with electricity sales covering the costs.
Curbed reports the virtual power plant, established by turning homes into interconnected power generators, will yield 250 megawatts of solar energy and 650 megawatt-hours of battery storage. It is anticipated these households will see, on average, 30 percent lower electricity bills. Any excess energy will be fed into the grid and sold to other households—which will, in turn, lower the prices of electricity for those household as well.
