Fire broke out in Tesla Megapack in Australian battery farm

A fire has broken out at the Big Battery battery farm in the Australian state of Victoria. According to the manager, the fire started during a test phase in a Tesla Megapack battery of 3 megawatt hours. The exact cause of the fire is not yet clear.

According to Victorian Big Battery the fire could have started during a test phase on the site. When the fire broke out, the site was disconnected from the power grid. According to grid operator Neoen, the incident therefore has no impact on the rest of the electricity grid of the southeastern state of Victoria.

Local emergency services say no one was injured. Local residents were advised to stay indoors and to keep windows and doors closed, in order to minimize the harmful effects of the plume of smoke.

The Victorian Big Battery site is running according to the administrator at 210 Tesla Megapack batteries of 3 MWh that supply stored electricity to the local grid at times when renewable energy sources produce too little energy. The total capacity of the Victorian Big Battery battery farm is 450 megawatt hours.