Turnbull, Musk discuss solutions

SYDNEY: The prime minister held talks with Elon Musk yesterday after the latter offered to solve the energy crisis plaguing the country’s southern region in 100 days — or install the technology for free.

Musk, the entrepreneur behind electric carmaker Tesla, made the pledge in response to power woes in south Australia, which was last year hit by a state-wide blackout after severe winds from an “unprecedented” storm tore transmission towers from the ground.

In a Twitter exchange on Friday with Australian software startup Atlassian’s co-founder, Mike Cannon-Brookes, Musk said he could solve the energy issue with a battery farm.

“Tesla will get the system installed and working 100 days from contract signature or it is free. That serious enough for you?” Musk wrote to Cannon-Brookes, who had earlier said he could get financing for the plan.

The conversation piqued the interest of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who yesterday said he spoke to Musk and had “a great in depth discussion about energy storage and its role in delivering affordable & reliable electricity”.

It is understood their conversation lasted almost an hour and they would continue talks on energy storage over a few months.