Following the September 2016 state-wide blackout, Neoen and Tesla were selected by the South Australian Government to supply Australia’s first grid scale battery named the Hornsdale Power Reserve (HPR).

HPR is located approximately 16km north of Jamestown in South Australia and approximately 85 km north of the proposed Blyth Battery. With initial nameplate capacity of 100MW/129MWh comprised of Tesla’s Powerpack system technology, at the time of completion it was the world’s largest utility scale battery. The fast-ramping capability of the Tesla Powerpacks used at the HPR enables the facility to dispatch large amounts of power quickly and reliably. This supports the South Australian electricity grid and means major cost savings by providing frequency control and short-term network security services.

A technical and market study carried out in 2018 by independent consultant Aurecon noted that “The introduction of HPR has significantly increased competition in the Regulation FCAS market. This has effectively reduced the pricing impact of the SA 35 MW FCAS constraint, which is estimated to have added nearly AUD 40 million in regulation FCAS costs in both 2016 and 2017.”