Tesla Motors Inc. CEO Elon Musk unveils the company’s newest product, Powerwall, in Hawthorne, Calif. Pic: AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu

Elon Musk just bet South Australia he can fix their power network in 100 days

SOUTH Australia may have found an unlikely hero in the form of Elon Musk.

The billionaire founder of Tesla has thrown down a challenge to the Australian government saying he can solve the state’s energy problems within 100 days – or he’ll supply the 100MW battery storage system for free.

Power shortages have been causing blackouts in the southern state resulting in a political brawl over energy policy. The federal government has blamed the failures on renewable technologies bringing Musk, a staunch advocate for renewable energies, out swinging.

According to the The Guardian, Lyndon Rive, Tesla’s vice-president for energy products, said on Thursday that the company could install the 100-300 megawatt hours of battery storage that would be required to prevent the power shortages that have been causing price spikes and blackouts in the state.

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Given the progress in Tesla’s new Gigafactory in Nevada, Rive believes the feat could be achieved in 100 days.

After Rive’s suggestion, Mike Cannon-Brookes, co-founder of startup Atlassian, tweeted Musk to see if he was serious.

SA Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young replied to Musk: “Let’s talk!”

The hope is that the grid scale battery storage that Musk has suggested could help to even out price spikes, prevent blackouts and improve reliability across the network.

The 100 day deadline is a tight one but Tesla have shown that they have the form needed to get the job done having recently installed an 80MWh grid scale battery farm in southern California within just 90 days.

While it will be a push for the company, Rive remains confident stating, “We don’t have 300MWh sitting there ready to go but I’ll make sure there are.”