Tesla has activated a massive lithium ion battery, the world's largest, in South Australia today.
The 100-megawatt lithium ion battery will now dispense power into South Australia's electricity grid.
The battery was officially activated today, although it has provided some power since Thursday in light of the state's hot weather.
Tesla boss Elon Musk, who was not at the official ceremony, promised in July to build the battery within 100 days for South Australia - which has suffered electricity supply problems in recent years - or deliver it for free.
Construction began on 30 September in Jamestown, which is around 200km north of Adelaide. The battery stores energy from a nearby windfarm that was recently constructed by French renewable company Neoen.
Premier Jay Weatherill described the activation as “history in the making”.
International company SolarReserve has also committed to build a $650 million thermal power plant - the largest of its kind in the world - in South Australia.
The plant, to be called the Aurora Solar Energy Project and located in Port Augusta, will operate like a conventional coal or gas power station.
The project will use thousands of mirrors (heliostats) to reflect and concentrate sunlight onto a central receiver on top of a tower. The process heats molten salt, pumped to the top of the tower and flowing through the receiver, to 565 degrees Celsius.
The molten salt provides a stored heat source that is used to generate steam to drive a single turbine that generates electricity. The facility can generate power at full load for up to eight hours after sunset.
