The World's Biggest Solar Energy Storage Farm Is Set to Launch in Australia

Construction will soon be underway on a gigantic solar farm in South Australia that's set to be the biggest of its kind in the world – thanks to 3.4 million solar panels and 1.1 million individual batteries.

The project is expected to be completed by the end of the year, at which point the huge plant should outdo all other solar farms in terms of overall battery capacity – although other solar facilities are larger in terms of land area.

Overall capacity will be 330 megawatts (MW) of power, enough to keep the lights on in tens of thousands of homes, with at least 100 MW of storage capacity for holding energy, according to the site's developer, the Lyon Group.

"Projects of this sort, renewable energy projects, represent the future," South Australia Premier Jay Weatherill told reporters after the announcement of the solar farm last week.

Once finished, the plant will cover 4,000 square metres (43,056 square feet) and cost an estimated $1 billion to construct, the Australian Associated Press reports.

The facility will then be able to provide roughly 330 MW power for just over 18 minutes, or 100 MegaWatts of power for 1 hour - handy bursts of electricity that will help get the state through any future blackouts.

The use of renewable energy in South Australia is a much-debated issue right now locally, with recent blackouts prompting new discussions over how the area should meet its energy needs in the years ahead.

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