Tesla’s Megapack took just 205 days from the start of work to install the new battery system, with energy company Neon announcing its new Victorian Big Battery in Australia on Wednesday. It is one of the largest lithium-ion storage systems in the world and, like other NEON projects, aims to help make electricity cleaner, safer and more affordable. However, a fire broke out during testing on Friday before the system was fully operational. Updates: After a good three days, the fire has been brought under control, the Australian Country Fire Authority reported on Monday afternoon local time (see below).
Flames and Smoke from Megapack Battery
Australian publication 7News reported the fire. She published several aerial photos on Twitter, showing the Tesla Megapack, two back to back, in several rows. Flames and thick smoke rise from one of them, surrounded by many more. The fire brigade is on site and trying to stop the fire from spreading to other modules, wrote @7NewsMelbourne early Friday, German time.
Shortly after, the Victoria State Fire Department also confirmed the incident. A 13-tonne lithium battery in a shipping container has caught fire, he wrote. Own staff is equipped with respiratory protection equipment. The operation, supported by police and medical forces, will go on for a few hours. It is not known from the information how many fire brigade people are involved. There shouldn’t have been any injuries.
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according to neon The Victorian Big Battery Includes Tesla’s 212 Megapack Modules And thus comes 300 MW of power and 450 MWh of capacity. After completing the installation last week, Tesla began connecting and testing the system to the grid.
Second major Tesla project in Australia
In the course of this work, a megapack should have caught fire. according to a Sydney Morning Herald reports A warning of toxic fumes has been issued to the people in the area. So the Tesla battery was disconnected from the power grid, with supplies not affected in Victoria.
Big Battery in the State is Tesla and Neon’s second major project in Australia (the photo above is a computer graphic of the planned final position). Prior to this, both companies had Storage Park Hornsdale Reserve created since 2017, which was for a long time the largest system of its kind in the world with an output of 100 MW.
Updates: The Australian Country Fire Authority reported that the Megapack fire was classified as “under control” after 3 p.m. local time on Monday. All doors of the affected Megapack container were opened and no signs of fire were found behind them. In the event of re-ignition, some firefighters and vehicles must remain on site for an additional 24 hours. According to previous knowledge, the burning Tesla module should also have begun to protrude directly behind it. At first nothing was known about the actual cause.
