南澳大利亚州已经走在全国前列。今天，我们引领世界。我们要宣布的是世界上最大的锂离子电池。该电池将建在詹姆斯敦，距离阿德莱德市中心仅几小时车程。它将由 Tesla 和 neom 合作建设。当然，Tesla 是世界上最令人振奋的科技公司之一，而 neon 是世界上最具声誉的可再生能源公司之一。

这个来自法国的项目将提供100兆瓦的电池储能。它将与霍恩戴尔风电场相配套，该风电场位于詹姆斯敦的同一地区。它将彻底改变可再生能源的储存和恢复方式，也将稳定南澳大利亚州的电网，同时对价格形成下行压力。

这是一次非凡的国际合作，我要感谢所有参与其中、让我们走到今天的人。这是一段不可思议的历程。2月9日，在此前9月发生停电之后，我们又发生了一次本无必要的负荷削减事件。南澳大利亚州民众感到震惊，我认为他们已经完全失去了对全国电力市场的信心。

他们要求自己选出的代表挺身而出、掌控局面。因此第2天，我们正是这样做的。我们站出来表示，将制定一项能源计划，掌控南澳大利亚州的能源未来。该能源计划在截至3月14日的6周期间制定完成，而我们所制定计划的核心要素之一，就是全国最大的电池。今天我们公布的是世界上最大的锂离子电池，这是一套电网级电池，将为电网提供稳定服务，并有能力对从澳大利亚能源市场购买的、价值4800万美元的 ESCAs 服务造成非常显著的冲击，从而对这里的价格形成下行压力；它还将为本州、全国乃至世界各地的可再生能源开启新的可能，使可再生能源可以按需调度，提供稳定的、实质上属于基本负荷的容量，供民众和工业用户为其业务供电。

所以，它从南澳大利亚州开始。

这个流程中大约有91个竞标者，都是国际竞标者。当然，在我们公布计划前几天，埃隆·马斯克与迈克·坎农-布鲁克斯之间在 Twitter 上的一点交流也对此有所助益。那91个竞标者都经过了审慎评估，我要感谢他们所有人参与这一流程的方式。我们确实认为有一份更出色的投标，那就是 Neon 与 Tesla 的这项合作。

而我们3倍激动地于今天宣布，这就是将共同落实该项目的中标联合体。我还要感谢参与此项工作的各个团队。尤其要感谢由我们的能源部长汤姆·库特森·托马斯领导的南澳大利亚州团队，以及他在其部门组建、由萨姆·克拉夫顿领导的团队，还有一群真正非凡的南澳大利亚州人。他们极其努力地工作，以确保在这个无比重要的时间节点，也就是12月1日、夏季开始之时，交付这套电池。

Tesla 在流程非常早期提出的一项承诺是，从签署《电网连接协议》起，他们将在100天内交付这套电池，否则免费。这是一项非凡的承诺，而现在他们正在正式作出这项承诺，它也是合同安排的一部分。这为南澳大利亚州民众提供了极大的保障，确保我们将在夏季开始前把它部署到位。

我还要感谢与我们谈判的人，包括 NEO 和 Tesla。要在极其紧迫的时间内完成无比复杂的谈判。因此，女士们、先生们，现在我非常荣幸地向各位介绍 Tesla 国际能源业务负责人卡尔·兰顿，以及 Tesla 首席执行官埃隆·马斯克。谢谢。

所以，我们在这里回答各位关于这套电池的问题，如果有人在远处有问题。

没有问题。

我简直不敢相信。马斯克先生，迈克的信息，第七频道。您认为这完全没有风险、风险吗？您的声誉，全球声誉在这里面临风险。南澳大利亚州过去的能源状况有时被视为笑话，有时则被视为灾难。您如何把它与自己的声誉放在一起？

嗯，我们考虑过这件事，确实存在一些风险，因为这将成为世界上规模大出许多的最大电池装置。

这是一套100兆瓦的电池装置。目前世界上第2大的电池系统是30兆瓦。所以我们谈论的是一套功率超过世界上第2大电池装置3倍的东西。事实上，我们在签订合同时坚持要求自己必须遵守100天的期限，否则免费。这是我们公开说过的话。这就是我们要做的事。我还想感谢迈克·坎农-布鲁克斯在 Twitter 上跟我互呛，并以某种方式促成了那件事。

我认为他在这方面也值得肯定。

如果你未能兑现这项承诺，会损失多少钱？如果你用了100天、102天。那会让你损失多少钱？

一大笔钱。

我不知道，可能是5000万美元或更多。我不知道。是一致的。

你们在加利福尼亚州的另一个项目价值大约50亿，都是红色的。

我不认为。不是50亿。

不，那是80兆瓦时的电厂。

不，不，我觉得那里少了几个数字。那么这个项目总共要花多少钱？我不确定我们是否。我不确定那是否。这是我们可以讨论的事情，但它是。这是公开信息吗？

不是。

不，不是。好吧，所以我们不能说确切的、确切的数字，不过也可以由南澳大利亚州决定是否披露。但这。这里有2、3方，Neo、Tesla 和南澳大利亚州。除非他们也同意，否则我们不会替他们发言。这个项目比加利福尼亚州的项目大得多，那个项目是，当我们在去年12月，当我们让它投入运行时，那是世界上最大的电池。

但那个系统的功率约为20兆瓦，而这个是100兆瓦。所以这是截然不同的东西。事实上，我真的认为，这里最突出的要点是，这套系统的功率将是地球上任何系统的3倍。这是一次，这并不像是某种短暂的、比如说小规模的前沿尝试。它就像是，你知道的，比以往任何人走得都远3倍，

如果我可以补充一点。是的，所以除了关注成本之外，这座电厂有意思的地方在于，它实际上会降低南美洲消费者的成本。

这是非常重要的一点。

所以，与其说它是耗费纳税人的钱或依靠公众慷慨解囊的东西，实际上它将提供价格稳定性、市场稳定性，并全面降低客户的价格，尤其是在夏季用电高峰月份。

技术挑战是什么？

我的意思是，这只是规模扩大所带来的常规技术挑战。所以，当你把某样东西做大3倍时，它还能同样良好运作吗？我们认为可以，但其中肯定存在一些风险。我们对我们的建模技术和系统设计有信心。但每当你把某样东西做得比以往任何东西都大3倍时，总会存在一些风险。马斯克先生，我能问一下吗。

后面这里。好的。抱歉，是酒店。抱歉。就在这里。电池将用于什么？它会用于套利，还是仅用于稳定服务？还有，当你说100天，否则就免费时。是免费给谁？Neoen，还是南澳大利亚州的纳税人，还是双方？嗯，我认为，如果是给。主要是免费给南澳大利亚州的纳税人。是的。而且它有。正如 Cal 所说，电网稳定是一个重要因素，因为它能够稳定电网并对电力进行缓冲。

你基本上可以在电力过剩且发电成本非常低时给电池组充电，然后在发电成本高时放电。这样实际上降低了终端客户每千瓦时的平均成本。这是对电网效率的一项根本性提升，而且在考虑可再生能源未来时，这确实非常必要，也非常、非常显而易见。

当你使用风能或太阳能时，显然不可能一直有风，也显然不可能一天24小时都有阳光。所以你必须对电力进行缓冲，并在一天的中段储存电力，以便在黎明、黄昏和夜间释放。从这个意义上说，这确实并不复杂。确实非常、非常简单直接。对于风能，则是在有风时将其储存起来，在风力较弱时释放。这极其重要，从根本上说，你可以把地球想成一颗巨型卫星。

卫星就是以这种方式供电的，包括大家相当熟悉的大型地球静止轨道卫星。事实上，我们刚刚在SpaceX发射了一颗。这些卫星将在轨道上持续运行20年，无需维护。真的没有人能到它们那里去。因此，它们被设计成零维护，而且完全由太阳能和电池供电，但不存在根本性的规模扩展限制。所以，正如你可以完全依靠太阳能和电池为一颗大型卫星供电一样，你也可以完全依靠太阳能和电池为地球供电。

地球是一颗巨型卫星。这一切都是由Twitter引发的。这件事什么时候对你而言不再只是一个空想或一场游戏？你什么时候开始真正参与这一过程的？

嗯，这当然从来都不是一场游戏，但Tesla团队让我了解到，那个，确实存在这样一个机会，可以就可再生能源向全世界作出一项意义重大的宣示，表明你确实可以建造一套重型、大规模、公用事业级的电池系统，而且南澳大利亚愿意接受这项挑战。然后那个团队问我，我们是否愿意为此承担巨大风险？我说，当然愿意。

如果南澳大利亚愿意承担巨大风险，那么我们也愿意。

澳大利亚有些人想建造新的燃煤发电站。

从经济角度看，这与新建可再生能源发电站相比如何？是的，燃煤发电站面临的根本挑战是，它们很难获得融资，因为煤炭的长期前景已经昭然若揭，那就是煤炭没有长期未来。因此，当，当人们考虑新建一座燃煤发电厂，或对现有燃煤发电厂进行重大升级时，在向投资者寻求融资时，投资者知道煤炭没有长期未来。

所以成本，也就是资本成本高得惊人，因为他们想收取非常高的利率，因为他们预计它无法持续30年，而这通常是他们希望摊销一座发电厂价值的年限。所以实际上，煤炭变得非常昂贵，因为人们不愿意投资于没有光明未来的东西。

马斯克先生，我是天空新闻的斯泰茜·李，在这边后排。

好的，

这将在詹姆斯敦建造。这对当地社区意味着什么？您预计这会在那里创造多少个工作岗位？

嗯，我认为这是一个规模庞大的设施，所以显然一开始会带来大量就业岗位；而且我认为从长期来看，因为它的功率将是世界上第二大电池设施的3倍。我们还会努力让它看起来美观，实际上至少在一段时间内，它会成为一个旅游目的地，因为人们就是会想来看看这个巨型电池农场。不过，我的意思是，我觉得它们排列得真的相当漂亮，就像白色的方尖碑。

我的意思是，如果它算是，你知道，如果未来有人把它发掘出来，看起来会像是：这是什么，某种艺术展览之类的吗？我不知道。他们当时想做什么？对吧。所以我认为它在一段时间内会有一定的旅游景点价值。Raquel，如果你愿意，可以对此详细说明一下。是的，当然，当然。

尤其是在施工阶段。坦白说，电池系统的运行和维护被设计成能够很好地自我维持。因此，在整个将持续到12月的施工阶段，不需要很多人留在那里维护系统。按粗略估计，詹姆斯敦将创造数十乃至数百个就业岗位。

当地有一家承包商cpp，已经赢得合同，将参与这里的建设工作。所以这是一家南澳大利亚州的公司cpp，他们将负责现场施工。

这些电池的使用寿命是多少

你们会在应急情况下对它们进行充放电循环吗？

是的，所以电池的使用寿命大约为15年，具体取决于多长时间、以什么样的能量水平被视为电池寿命的终点。但这确实取决于电池的使用强度、放电深度的百分比，以及向电池组输入或从电池组输出功率时有多激进。不过，电子设备可以使用20至30年，冷却系统的热控制回路也能达到大致相同的使用年限。

所以随着时间推移，你可以增加更多电池包，以弥补旧电池包储能能力的下降，而它们会无缝融入系统。所以并不是说所有东西都会被丢弃。那它们可以回收吗？它们当然可以回收，而且事实上，回收锂离子电池包是合理的，因为其中的材料成分仍然相当有价值。事实上，电芯的主要成本驱动因素往往是镍。

所以你可以把它看作是品位很高的富镍矿石，这是一种理解方式。但通常而言，即使电芯已经完全没有储能能力，它仍然保留约10%的价值。

考虑到南澳大利亚州已经有大量风电场分布在全州各地，你是否希望这会成为第一步，随着时间推移，也许能与其他组织展开合作？

如果它成功的话？是的，我认为这项交易实际上将极其有助于在澳大利亚乃至全世界证明大型公用事业级电池应用是可行的。当然，我的意思是，显然会有很多人关注它并问：他们在100天内完成了吗？它奏效了吗？有没有什么问题？显然，这些都是应该问的问题，所以我们会确保它成功。

也许我可以补充一点。我们之前谈过摆脱煤炭的问题。我的意思是，说真的，我们会谈到，你知道，为什么还要新建燃煤电厂，甚至新建燃气电厂？我的意思是，我尤其认为，电池成本，也就是持续下降的电池成本，再加上可再生能源，将从根本上重塑能源格局，速度会比任何人想象的都快得多。我们已经在岛屿电网上看到这一点。

我们在考艾岛有一个范围与此类似、规模小得多的项目，那里的阳光太多了。所以现在他们只建设与电池配套的太阳能电站，它们本质上就是基荷发电设施。他们在白天给电池充电，白天利用阳光充电，然后在夜间放电以提供基荷电力。所以，我的意思是，我认为在不久的将来，所有新建的可再生能源电站都会照例配套电池。

而且它将彻底重塑能源系统的根基。

是的，必须如此。当然，就像我说的，有一种常识是，如果你有太阳能，就必须有电池，因为否则你的电力就只能与阳光有多充足成正比。

这真的显而易见。

马斯克先生，您实际上参观过詹姆斯敦的项目现场吗，还是会在这次

南澳之行中去参观？实际上，我刚从机场直接来到这里，但我会在离开前去参观。是的。

您会在这里待多久？

我不确定。

我想至少会待到明天。我不确定今天星期几。是星期五。对。

还有其他问题吗？有。

您认为这是一个让自己获利的机会，还是仅仅因为您觉得南澳州很可怜？

我当然不觉得南澳州很可怜。这是个很棒的地方。事实上，南澳州愿意开展如此规模宏大、超越世界上其他任何项目的工程，着实让我非常钦佩。就像我说的，南澳州正在做的事情，其功率是地球上其他任何项目的3倍。所以这需要很大的胆识。我确实认为，全世界都会把它视为一个范例；能够为电网开展真正承载大量负荷的大规模电池应用，这确实将成为世界其他地区的榜样。

但我们需要交付，需要把它完成。我们需要确保它正常运行，而且我们希望在不到，远不到100天的时间内完成。

联邦层面对南澳州的能源政策有很多批评。您是否敦促其他州，或许还有联邦政府效仿？这是未来的发展方向吗？

我认为这绝对是未来的发展方向。而且我认为，其他州值得仔细研究一下，看看这是否适用于它们的需求；我猜，即使在最坏的情况下也是适用的。

好的。女士们、先生们，请大家感谢埃隆和卡尔来到这里。

非常感谢。

女士们、先生们。我们也有机会听取 Neo N 代表的发言，我们还有罗曼·德·鲁索先生。谢谢你，罗曼。还有弗兰克·布尔吉耶。谢谢。

所以我们当然也，这个。NEOEN 是一家总部位于法国、处于世界领先地位的可再生能源公司，但现在其国际业务中有很大一部分位于澳大利亚。它当然拥有霍恩斯代尔风电场，这是一座超过 300 兆瓦的风电场，拥有大量风力涡轮机。是 99 台吧。因此，这对他们来说是一个机会，不仅可以为南澳大利亚州提供服务，还可以利用电池的剩余容量转售这项特定服务并参与市场。

所以，可以说，这体现了我们今天所宣布事项的另一个层面，也就是我们未来增强工业用户供电稳定性、并在南澳大利亚州这部分市场引入竞争的能力。对南澳大利亚州而言，要对价格形成下行压力，这是一个关键问题，也就是要切实增加南澳大利亚州电力市场中现有合同的数量。

所以这两位先生也在这里，愿意回答你们的问题。谢谢，

主席。你最初是在什么级别、什么阶段

与气流取得联系的？

从一开始，我们就在考察可能的电池供应商，我必须说，Tesla 很快就被认定为杰出的合作伙伴，不仅有能力交付如此大规模的产品，而且我们坚信，也有能力帮助我们运营它并将它接入电网。挑战不仅是把它建成，而是要让它与 IMO 和电网协同运行，实现交付。

我们也很快了解到，Tesla 组织的最高层作出了坚定承诺。所以。

你们也会扩建风电场吗？是否还有开展其他项目的计划？

这座风电场已经是南澳大利亚州最大的可再生能源发电设施，计划中可能不会在这个地点扩建，但南澳大利亚州还有许多其他很好的地点，那里的风力和太阳能条件非常出色，可以建设更多配备储能的风电场。这实际上是一个试点，展示我们应该如何将可再生能源与储能结合起来，为南澳大利亚州，也为世界上大多数地方提供长期可持续、可调度且有竞争力的能源。

neom 的成本是多少？

你们要和 Tesla 各付一半账单吗？

是的。

我只想问一下，你们计划如何在日常基础上使用这块电池，以及鉴于我们有半小时，能源批发定价的方式是否不得不对此产生影响。

所以，首先有一份合同和一项对 SOPH 澳大利亚政府的承诺，否则这块电池将主要用于提供电网安全、电网稳定性和电力储备，并且市场还会产生额外收入。这将通过 EFCAS 服务等方式出售电力来实现，但其背后涉及一些知识产权。

你们有多大信心，你们接下来能够拿到电池？

所以，霍恩斯代尔风电场第 2 阶段已经建成，并于今年 6 月，也就是 6 月 8 日投运。第 3 阶段确实在顺利推进。因此，我们一直与 cement 和 cpp 共同开发和建设这座风电场。所以是为电站电气部分提供服务的澳大利亚分包商。因此，就现场经验和对现场情况的了解而言，我们对现场了如指掌，分包商了解并网情况，而且我们相信，我们正与 AMO 和 ARENA 在霍恩斯代尔 2 上共同开展的 FCAS 试验，也将帮助我们完成注册步骤，而这些步骤在这种情况下非常重要。

我们并不太担心

电池的交付。

我们相信并网工作会妥善完成。

你们正在等待 AEMO 批准，以启动 100 天期限。你们是否有这将在何时发生的时间表？

我们将与奥黛丽和 AEMU 的团队非常努力地合作，尽快促成此事。我们的时间非常紧。

你能保证消费者、家庭和企业的电价确实会下降吗？

我认为说保证有些言过其实，但 EFCAS 服务由具有竞争力的可再生电力来源提供这一事实必然会产生影响，是的。要说保证，我不确定我会这么说。风电场出售电力的价格是市场平均价格的二分之一到三分之二。因此，有了储能，我们将能够在人们需要电力时，而不只是在有风时，提供这种价格仅为平均价格一半的廉价电力。

而这正是我们真正想做的。

你能否给我们介绍一下与南澳大利亚州政府达成的安排，包括政府何时有权调用电池，以及这一安排将如何运作？

我们认为，我们达成的安排是，我想电池容量的70%保留用于南澳大利亚州政府的用途，名义上30%用于基于市场的活动。关于我们获取这些容量的方式，还有一系列相当复杂的协议。所以，我们双方对于将电池用于我方用途有着明确的理解。

同样值得注意的是，这个过程被认为会不断演变。我们计划与政府和监管机构定期开会，以确保电池得到尽可能好的利用，并确保我们从南澳大利亚州这个独特的范例中获得有益的经验和深入的理解，从而能够在澳大利亚及世界其他地区复制它。这是“州长”这个词，而这意味着我们必须继续完善它，使其尽可能高效。

你们未来是否还计划在南澳大利亚州和能源领域进一步投资？

所以，NE1 是一家全球性独立发电商，即独立电力生产商，负责建设可再生能源发电设施。自2012年以来，我们一直在澳大利亚投资，投资额超过10亿澳元，并计划在未来12至18个月内投资大约相同金额的资金。南澳大利亚州通过 Honesdale 风电场和 Hornsdale 电力储备项目，从我们的核心投资中获益。我们还有其他几个项目，其中包括位于南澳大利亚州的项目。

是的。

你认为这里还有很大的进一步增长空间吗？因为除了这套电池外，还有新的能源安全。

不，我认为，没有电池，我们在南澳大利亚州的发展会受到限制。现在，我们真的将开始能够在南澳大利亚州真正发展风电。这只是开始。政府的举措。这项能源安全计划确实改变了全球的游戏规则，从现在起，南澳大利亚州将被视为解决间歇性电力、电力和电网稳定性这一等式的领导者。

所以，Neuyen 非常自豪能够参与州长这个词的实验。在您的领导下，州长，全世界的目光都将聚焦于未来4个月。

如果没有其他问题了，能否请大家感谢弗兰克和罗曼？

非常感谢。

South Australia is already leading the nation. Today we lead the world. We're announcing the world's largest lithium ion battery. That battery will be built in Jamestown, just a few hours from the centre of Adelaide. It will be a partnership between Tesla and also neom. Tesla, of course, one of the most exciting technology companies in the world, and neon, one of the most reputable renewable energy companies in the world.

Coming from France, this project will provide for 100 megawatts of battery storage. It will be associated with the Horn Dale wind farm which is located in that same area in Jamestown. What it will do is completely transform the way in which renewable energy is stored, restored and also stabilised the South Australian network, as well as putting downward pressure on prices.

This has been an extraordinary collaboration on an international basis and I want to thank all of those who have participated in bringing us to this day. It's been an incredible journey. On the 9th of February we had an unnecessary load shedding event coming on top of the blackout that occurred back in September. South Australians were shocked and I think had completely lost confidence in the national electricity market.

What they were demanding of their elected representatives is they stand up and take control. So the next day we did just that. We stood up and said that we would produce an energy plan that takes charge of South Australia's energy future. That energy plan was developed over the six week period up until the 14th of March and one of the central elements of the plan that we developed was the nation's largest battery. Today what we're revealing is the world's largest lithium ion battery, a grid scale battery that will provide stabilization services to the grid, have the capacity to make a very serious dent in the $48 million worth of ESCAs services which are purchased from the Australian energy market, putting downward pressure on prices here, also opening up new possibilities for renewable energy in this state, in this nation and around the world to be dispatchable renewable energy providing firm, essentially baseload capacity for people and industrial users to power their businesses.

So it starts here in South Australia.

We had about 91 bidders, international bidders to this process. Of course that was assisted by a little bit of Twitter exchange in the few days before we released our plan between Elon Musk and also Mike Cannon brooks and those 91 bidders were carefully assessed and I want to thank all of them for the way in which they participated in the process. We did come to a view that there was a superior bid and it is this partnership between Neon and Tesla.

And we're three thrilled to be able to announce Today, that that is the winning consortium that is going to put this project together. I want to also thank the teams that worked on this. In particular, I want to thank the team in South Australia led by Tom Kutsun Thomas, our Minister for Energy, the team he assembled in his agency, led by Sam Crafton, and really an extraordinary group of South Australians who worked incredibly hard to make sure that this incredibly important timeline, that is the 1st of December, the beginning of summer, was going to have the delivery of this battery.

One of the offers that was made very early on in the process by Tesla was that from the signing of the Grid Connection agreement, they would deliver this battery within 100 days or it is free. It's an extraordinary offer and it's one which is now being committed to and is part of the contractual arrangements. And that's a fantastic degree of security that South Australians have that we will have this in place by the beginning of summer.

I want to also thank the people who have negotiated with us, both NEO and Tesla. It has been an incredibly tight timeline to complete what are incredibly complex negotiations. And so, ladies and gentlemen, it's my great pleasure now to introduce you to the international head of energy for Tesla, Carl Langton, and also the Chief Executive Officer of Tesla, Elon Musk. Thank you.

So we're here to answer your questions and on the topic of the battery, and if anyone has a question far away.

No question.

I can't believe it. Mr. Musk, Mike's message, channel seven. Do you see any risk, risk in this at all? Your reputation, global reputation is at risk here. South Australia's energy situation in the past has been seen as sometimes a joke and sometimes disastrous. How do you place it with your reputation?

Well, we thought about this and there is certainly some risk because this is going to be the largest battery installation in the world by a significant margin.

This is 100 megawatt battery installation. The next biggest battery system in the world is 30 megawatts. So we're talking about something that is more than three times as powerful as the next biggest battery installation in the world. And we actually insisted in doing the contract that we be held to the 100 days or it's free. That's what we said publicly. That's what we're going to do. I'd also like to thank Mike Cannon Brooks for, for talking smack with me on Twitter and kind of getting that.

I think he deserves some credit there as well.

How much will it cost you if you don't live up to that commitment? If you go 100, 102 days. What's it going to cost you?

A very large sum of money.

I don't know, probably $50 million or more. I don't know. Aligned.

One of your other projects in California was worth about 5 billion are red.

I don't think. Not 5 billion.

No, that was the 80 megawatt hour plant.

No, no, I think there's a few digits missing there. So how much is this going to cost in total? I'm not sure if we. I'm not sure if that. It's something that we can discuss, but it was. Is that public knowledge or not?

It is not.

No, it's not. Okay, so we can't say the exact, the exact number, but also leave that up to South Australia if they want to disclose it. But it's. There are two, three parties, Neo and Tesla and South Australia. We would not speak for them unless they agree as well. This is significantly bigger than the project in California which was the, when we got, when we brought that online in December of last year, that was the biggest battery in the world.

But that system is approximately 20 megawatts in power and this is 100 megawatts. So it's a massively different thing. In fact, I really think that like the most salient point here is that the system will be three times more powerful than any system on Earth. This is a, this is not like a sort of a short, like a minor foray into the frontier. It's just like, you know, going three times further than anyone's gone before,

if I may add something. Yeah, so beyond focusing on the costs, the interesting thing about this plant is actually going to lower costs for consumers in South America.

That's a very important point.

So as opposed to being something that costs taxpayer money or the largess of the public is actually going to provide price stability, market stability and lower prices overall for customers, especially at the summer peak months.

What's the technical challenges?

I mean it's just the normal technical challenges that come with scale. So when you make something three times bigger, does it still work as well? We think it will, but there's certainly some risk in that. And we're confident in, in our modeling techniques and in the design of the system. But whenever you make something three times bigger than anything that's come before, there's always some risk. Mr. Musk, can I just ask.

Up the back here. Okay. Sorry, it's hotel. Sorry. Just over here. What will the battery be used for? Will it be used for arbitrage or simply stability services? And when you say 100 days or it's free. Who is it free for? Neoen or the South Australian taxpayers or both? Well, I think if it's for the. Primarily the free would be for South Australian taxpayers. Yeah. And it has. The grid stabilization is a huge factor, as Cal was saying, because it's able to stabilize the grid and buffer power.

You can essentially charge up the battery packs when you have excess power and where the cost of power production is very low and then discharge it when the cost of power production is high. And this effectively lowers the average cost per kilowatt hour to the, to the end customer. It's a fundamental efficiency improvement for the grid and it's really quite necessary and quite, quite obvious when sort of considering a renewable energy future.

When you have wind or solar, it's obviously not windy all the time and it's clearly not sunny 24 hours a day. So you have to buffer the power and store the power during the middle of the day in order to discharge it at dawn, dusk and night. It's really not complicated in that sense. It's really, really quite straightforward. And then for wind energy to store it when it's windy and discharge it when it's less windy. This is extremely important, fundamental in a way you can think of Earth like Earth is like a giant satellite.

And the way that satellites are powered, including the big geostationary satellites which are quite familiar. We just launched one actually at SpaceX. Those will last for 20 years with no maintenance in orbit. Literally no one can go to them. So they're designed to zero maintenance and they're entirely powered by solar and battery, but there's no fundamental scaling limit. So just as you can power a big satellite purely with solar and a battery, you can power Earth purely with solar and a battery.

Earth is a giant satellite. This was all triggered by Twitter. When did this become more than a thought bubble or a game for you? When did you become really involved in the process?

Well, it's certainly never a game, but I was made aware of it by the Tesla team that, that there was really this opportunity to make a significant statement about renewable energy to the world, to show that you can really do a heavy duty, large scale, utility level battery system and that South Australia was up for the challenge. Then that team asked me like, are we willing to take a big risk on this? And I said absolutely.

If South Australia is willing to take big risk, then so are we.

Some people in Australia want to build new coal fired power stations.

How does that compare economically with building new renewable energy power stations instead? Yeah, the fundamental challenge with coal power stations is that they're quite difficult to get financed because the writing's on the wall for the long term future of coal, which is that coal does not have a long term future. And so when, when one looks at the establishment of a new coal power plant or doing a major upgrade of an existing coal power plant, when going to investors to get financing for that, investors know that coal does not have long term future.

So the cost, the capital cost is incredibly high because they want to charge a very high interest rate because they're not expecting it to last 30 years, which is normally the length of time that they would want to amortize the value of a power plant. So effectively, coal becomes very expensive because people aren't willing to invest in something that doesn't have a great future.

Mr. Musk, Stacey Lee from Sky News up the back here.

Okay,

this will be built in Jamestown. What does that mean for the community there? How many jobs do you expect this to create up there?

Well, I think it's a massive installation, so there will obviously be a huge initial input of jobs and I think long term, because it will be three times more powerful than the next biggest battery installation in the world. And we're going to make an effort to have it also look good that it actually will be a tourist destination for at least some period of time because you just want to see this giant battery farm. But I mean, I think they're really quite nicely arranged, kind of white obelisks.

I mean if it sort of, you know, if this got unearthed in the future, it would look like what was this, some sort of art exhibit or something? I don't know. What were they after? Right. So I think it'll have some value as sort of a tourist spot for a while. And Raquel, if you'd like to elaborate on that. Yeah, absolutely, absolutely.

Especially for the construction phase. And I'll be honest, the operations and maintenance of the battery system are designed to be pretty self sustaining. So it's not a significant amount of people who have to be there to upkeep the system for all the construction phase, which will last into December. Notionally we'll have to be tens or hundreds of jobs are being created Jamestown.

There's a local contractor, cpp, that's won the contract to be part of doing it here. So it's a South Australian company, cpp and they'll be doing that on ground work.

What's the useful life of the batteries

and will you cycle them through contingency?

Yeah, so the useful life of the battery, depending on how long, what energy level is considered to be, the end of life of the battery is sort of on the order of 15 years. But it does depend on how heavily the battery is used, what percentage of the how deeply it's discharged, how aggressive power is added to the pack or removed from the pack. But the electronics can last 20 to 30 years, and the cooling system thermal control loop can also last on that order.

So over time, what you can do is you can add more power packs to supplement the decline in the energy capability of the older ones, and they will seamlessly blend into the system. So it's not as though everything is junked. And are they recyclable? They are certainly recyclable and in fact it makes sense to recycle lithium ion battery packs because the material constituents are still quite valuable. The primary cost driver, in fact, in the cells tends to be nickel.

So you can think of it as very nickel rich ore is one way to think about it. But typically the cells have about 10% of their value even when they have no energy capability left.

Considering South Australia already has a high number of wind farms spread around the state, do you hope this will be a first step into maybe partnering with other organizations as time goes on?

If it's a success? Yeah, I think this deal is actually going to be incredibly helpful within Australia and around the world as a proof point for being able to do large scale utility battery applications. And certainly, I mean, there's obviously going to be a lot of people looking at it and saying, did they get it done in 100 days? Did it work? Are there any issues? Obviously those are the right questions to ask and so we're going to make sure that it does.

Maybe if I can add something to that. We talked about it earlier, the shift away from coal. I mean, really, we talk about, you know, why would you even build a new coal plant or even a new gas plant? I mean, I specifically think that the cost, the consistently lowering cost of batteries coupled with renewables is going to fundamentally reshape the energy landscape much faster than anyone thinks it will. We're already seeing that on island grids.

We have a project similar in scope to this, much smaller in size on the island of Kauai, where they have too much sun. So now they're only building solar plants paired with batteries, which are essentially baseload generators. They charge it during the daytime and they charge in the daytime from sun, and they discharge at night to provide baseload power. And so, I mean, I think in the very near future, all new renewable energy plants will have batteries coupled with them just as par for the course.

And it's going to totally reshape the fundament of the energy system.

Yeah, it has to. Of course, like I said, there's a sort of common sense that if you have solar, you must have battery because otherwise your power is just going to be proportionate to how sunny it is.

It's really obvious.

Mr. Musk, have you actually visited the Jamestown site or will you on this

trip to SA I actually just came right from the airport to here, but I will visit it before I leave. Yes.

And how long are you in town for?

I'm not sure.

I think at least until tomorrow. I'm not sure what day. It's Friday. Right.

Are there any other questions? Yes.

Did you see this as a financial opportunity for yourself or did you just see it that you felt sorry for South Australia?

I certainly don't feel sorry for South Australia. This is a great place. In fact, I'm pretty darn impressed with South Australia willing to do a project of this magnitude that's beyond anything else in the world. Like I said, South Australia is doing something that's three times more powerful than anything else on earth. So it takes a lot of gumption. I do see this as something that the world will look at as an example and being able to do large scale battery applications for the grid that really take a large amount of load, it's really going to be an example to the rest of the world.

But we need to deliver, we need to get it done. We need to make sure it's working properly and we want to do it in less than well under 100 days.

There have been a lot of critics federally about South Australia's energy policy. Do you implore other states and maybe the federal government to follow suit? Is this the way of the future?

I think this is definitely the way of the future. And I think it's worth other states taking a close look at this and seeing if it's applicable to their needs, which I suspect in worst case it is.

Okay. Ladies and gentlemen, could you thank Elon and Cal for being here.

Thanks very much.

Ladies and gentlemen. We also have an opportunity to hear from the representatives of Neo N and we also have Mr. Romain de Russo. Thank you, Romain. And also Frank Bourgier. Thank you.

So we're also, of course, this. NEOEN is a world leading renewable energy company based in France, but now has a very large proportion of its international operations based here in Australia. It of course has the Hornsdale Wind Farm, which is over a 300 megawatt wind farm with a very large number of wind turbines. 99 is it. And so this is an opportunity for them not just to provide the services to South Australia, but also in the balance of the battery to also on sell that particular service and participate in the market.

So this represents another dimension, if you like, of what we've announced today, which is the future capacity for us to firm up an industrial user and introduce competition into the South Australian part of the market. And this is a critical issue for South Australia to be able to put downward pressure on prices is to actually increase the number of contracts that exist within the South Australian electricity market.

So these two gentlemen are also here willing to answer your questions. Thank you,

Chairman. At what level stage did you first

touch base with airflow?

From the beginning we've been looking at possible battery suppliers and I have to say that Tesla was quickly identified as outstanding partner with an ability not only to deliver such a large scale product, but also, we strongly believe to help us operate it and integrate it to the grid. The challenge is not only to build it, but it's going to be to have it working with the IMO and the grid to deliver.

And we also understood quickly that there were strong commitments at the highest level of Tesla's organization. So.

Will you expand the wind farm as well? Are there plans to do other things as well?

The wind farm is already the largest renewable generator in South Australia and it might not be in the plan to expand in this location, but there's a lot of other good locations in South Australia where the wind and solar regime are outstanding to do more wind farm with storage. This is really a pilot of how we should integrate renewable with storage to make long term sustainable, dispatchable and competitive energy for South Australia, but also for most of the places in the world.

What's the cost to neom?

Are you putting half the bill with Tesla?

We are.

I'll just ask how do you plan to use the battery on a daily basis and whether the way energy is priced wholesale is having to affect that given we have half hour.

So there's first of all a contract and a commitment to the SOPH Australian government or the battery will mainly use for the purpose of providing grid security and grid stability and power reserve and there will be additional revenues generated by the market. This will be through sell electricity through EFCAS services and so on, but a bit of IP behind that.

How confident are you you are going to be able to get batteries next?

So the honesdale wind Farm Stage 2 has been built, has been commissioned in June this year, the 8th of June. The third stage is really well underway. So we have been developing and building the wind farm with cement and cpp. So for Australian subcontractor for the electric balance of plant. So in terms of experience and understanding of what is going on on site, we know the site perfectly well, the subcontractors understand the connection and we believe the FCAS trial, which we're jointly with AMO and ARENA performing on Honesdale 2 will also help us getting through the registration steps, which are important steps in that context.

We are not that worried on the

delivery of the battery.

We are confident the connection will be performed adequately.

You're waiting for AEMO sign off for the 100 day period. Do you have any time frame of when that will occur?

We will be working very hard with Audrey and the team at AEMU to make it happen as quickly as possible. We have a very short time frame.

Can you guarantee that power prices for consumers, for households and for businesses will actually go down?

I think guaranteeing would be an overstatement, but necessarily the fact that EFCAS services being provided through competitive sources of renewable electricity would have an impact, yes. Guaranteeing, I'm not sure I would. The wind farm is selling electricity between half and two thirds of the price of the average price of the market. So with the storage, we're going to be able to bring this cheap electricity half of the average price at the moment when the people need it, and not only when the wind blows.

And that's really what we want to do.

Can you just take us through the arrangement with the South Australian government about when the government has the right to tap the battery, how that arrangement will work?

We think we have an arrangement where I think 70% of the battery is reserved for South Australian government purposes, notionally 30% for market based activity. And there's a series of quite complex agreements about way in which we gain access to that. So there's a clear understanding between us about the use of the battery for our purposes.

And it's also important to note that this is a process which is deemed to evolve. We plan with the government and the regulator, regular meetings to make sure that the battery is used as well as possible and that we take good lessons and good understanding from this unique example in South Australia and that we'll be able to replicate it in Australia and in other parts of the world. It is the word Premier and it means we'll have to work on it to make it as efficient as possible.

Have you got further investment in South Australia and the energy sector planned in the future as well?

So NE1 is a global IPP, independent power producer, building renewable energy generators. We have been investing In Australia since 2012, more than 1 billion Australian dollars, and we are planning to invest approximately the same amount of money in the next 12 to 18 months. South Australia has benefited from the core of our investment through the Honesdale Wind Farm and through the Hornsdale Power Reserve. We have several other projects, including in South Australia.

Yes.

Do you see much further room for growth here? Because along with this battery, there is also new energy security.

No, I think we were limited in growing in South Australia without the battery. Now we're really going to start to be able to do real wind in South Australia. It's the beginning. The government's initiatives. The energy security plan is really a game changer in the world and South Australia is going to be seen as of now as a leader in being able to solve the equation of intermittent electricity, electricity and grid stability.

So Neuyen is very proud to be part of the experimentation Word Premier. And under your leadership, Premier, the world is going to have the eyes focused on the next four months.

If there are no other questions, could you thank Frank and Romain?

Thank you very much.