Tesla loses ‘World’s Biggest Battery’ crown, but it might reclaim it quick

The “Big Tesla Battery” system in Australia is officially not the “world’s biggest battery” anymore, but the company might retake that crown soon with a new giant project.

The 100 MW/129 MWh Tesla Powerpack project in South Australia became “the world’s biggest battery” when it was put in operation in 2018 by Neoen, an energy provider who owns and operates the battery system.

It recently received a 50 MW/64.5 MWh expansion, bringing the total capacity of the project, which is also known as the “Hornsdale Battery,” to 150 MW/193.5 MWh.

Neoen confirmed today that the new expansion went into operation, but even with the new capacity, it isn’t enough to retain the “World’s Biggest Battery” crown:

The company confirmed that a 230 MW battery system has just been put in operation in California, making it the “World’s Biggest Battery.”

They are referring to LS Power’s 250-MW Gateway Energy Storage project that was energized at 230 MW last week. It is using LG Chem batteries,

While Tesla can’t say that it has built the world’s largest battery anymore, it might not be for long.

Some determine the size of batteries by their output (MW), while others base it on their energy capacity (MWh).

Tesla recently started construction on the world’s largest Megapack project for PG&E. They are starting with a massive 182.5MW/730MW phase of the project, which alone could be considered the world’s biggest battery, but PG&E is also considering increasing the capacity to 1.1 GWh.

This new project is using Tesla’s new Megapack energy storage system.

The electric utility plans to energize the project in the second quarter of 2021, and it may very well be the new world’s biggest battery by then.