Ukraine’s Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman says he wants to talk to Tesla Motors boss Elon Musk about using the tech entrepreneur’s innovative power technologies to tackle Ukraine’s energy crisis.
During an exchange on social network Twitter on March 13, Musk bet he could build a huge lithium-ion battery network to prevent power blackouts in South Australia in just 100 days.
Asked by a Twitter user if he could do the same in Ukraine, Musk wrote he could, and named the price.
The Ukrainian prime minister was tagged on the Twitter thread. He replied, promising to mull over the deal.
“Interesting idea. Ukraine is eager to become a test site for innovation. Let’s talk it over in detail,” Groysman wrote .
And even though there has only been informal talk on a social medium about such a deal, Twitter users in Ukraine reacted with keen interest: the country’s energy sector is a controversial issue, with Ukraine still buying coal from Russian-occupied parts of the Donbas to fuel some of its power stations.
@elonmusk @mcannonbrookes Could we do something similar in Ukraine? How much would such project cost?@VGroysman
— vAnilla Love t (@5AllanLeVito) March 12, 2017
.@5AllanLeVito Thanks, @elonmusk. Interesting idea. Ukraine is eager to become a test site for innovation. Let's talk it over in details.
— Volodymyr Groysman (@VGroysman) March 13, 2017
That trade prompted several rallies in Kyiv, and, starting in late January, developed into a blockade of the railways and roads connecting Ukrainian-held and Russian-occupied areas of Donetsk and Luhansk oblast, preventing the delivery of some products, including anthracite coal .
The blockade has highlighted how dependent Ukraine’s power generation industry is on supplies of anthracite coal.
Speaking on TV channel Inter on March 3, Groysman claimed that Ukraine stood to lose around $3.5 billion and up to 75,000 jobs as a result of the blockade.
“What is happening with the blockade is in the interests of the Russian Federation. We’re talking about our coal… on which Ukrainian taxes are paid, being banned and purchased in Russia. This is the sabotaging of our nation.”
The Twitter conversation about the battery network started on March 9, when the head of Tesla’s battery division Lyndon Rive wrote that he would “commit” to installing the 100-megawatt-hour batteries required to prevent blackouts in Australia. The idea is supposed to be implemented using Tesla’s Powerwalls – rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that form a stationary energy storage.
The Powerwall can store electricity generated by solar panels and draw electricity from the utility grid when rates are low to store for later use. It also provides homeowners with backup power in the event of an outage.
The idea was supported by Australian billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes, who offered to fund the venture if both Rive and Musk are serious about the wager. Musk, however, took it as a challenge, saying that Tesla would forfeit its own money if it couldn’t do it in 100 days.
Kyiv Post staff writer Denys Krasnikov can be reached at [email protected].
