South Australia plans to set up world's largest virtual power plant

Sydney

SOUTH Australia plans to roll out solar panels and Tesla Inc batteries to at least 50,000 homes to form what its government says will be the world's largest virtual power plant.

Beginning with a trial of 1,100 public housing properties, five kilowatt solar panels and 13.5 kilowatt-hour Tesla Powerwall 2 batteries will be installed free of charge and financed through electricity sales, the state government said on Sunday ahead of a state election.