Cannon-Brookes: don't hold back technology
Software billionaire Michael Cannon-Brookes has been flooded with offers to help raise $200 million to take up Tesla chief executive Elon Musk's offer to solve South Australia's energy woes with batteries in 100 days "or it's free".
"The reaction has been overwhelming. My phone hasn't stopped buzzing. The support is flooding in, both from individuals in terms of "hell yes!" and from corporates who are asking: "Can we buy power? Can we contribute dollars?" Mr Cannon-Brookes, the co-founder of Atlassian, said.
"I need seven days to try and sort out politics and funding – I'm excited to get this off the ground."
Late on Friday local time Mr Musk offered Mr Cannon-Brookes a system for $US250 per kilowatt hour of capacity – about half the pre-discount price quoted by Tesla executives in Melbourne on Thursday.
@mcannonbrookes $250/kWh at the pack level for 100MWh+ systems. Tesla is moving to fixed and open pricing and terms for all products.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 10, 2017
South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill said he was already talking to Mr Cannon-Brookes and Tesla ahead of talks about the proposal.
Energy minister Josh Frydenberg said, "The government stands ready through ARENA and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to work with companies with serious proposals to support the deployment of more storage."
Earlier Mr Musk and Mr Cannon-Brookes conducted an extraordinary trans-Pacific Twitter negotiation that cut through the fog of official Australia's painfully slow response to an energy crisis with gas and electricity shortages and skyrocketing prices.
"Tesla will get the system installed and working 100 days from contract signature or it's free," Mr Musk, the visionary businessman behind Tesla, Paypal and SpaceX, tweeted on Friday, after Mr Cannon-Brookes had asked if he was serious about the 100 days bet.
Mr Cannon-Brookes tweeted back: "You're on mate. Give me 7 days to try sort politics & funding. DM (direct message) me a quote for approx 100MW cost – mates rates."
@elonmusk legend! ☀️ You’re on mate. Give me 7 days to try sort out politics & funding. DM me a quote for approx 100MW cost - mates rates!
— Mike Cannon-Brookes (@mcannonbrookes) March 10, 2017
Man. You go to a few meetings, make a phone call, come back and the world is on fire 🔥 going to be a long night! #btcys
— Mike Cannon-Brookes (@mcannonbrookes) March 10, 2017
Tesla's vice-president for energy products, Lyndon Rive, said on Thursday the company, which is best known for its electric cars but has just opened the world's biggest battery factory in Nevada, would "commit" to installing the 100-300 megawatt hours of batteries required to prevent blackouts in South Australia within 100 days, if it were asked to do so.
@mcannonbrookes Tesla will get the system installed and working 100 days from contract signature or it is free. That serious enough for you?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 10, 2017
That prompted Mr Cannon-Brookes to pledge to help secure political and financial support for the idea. He told AFR Weekend on Friday morning he would even tip his own money into the project to help it succeed. "For sure! I'm not sure I could 100 per cent fund it yet but I'd certainly be a big contributor," Mr Cannon-Brookes said in a message.
Lyndon & @elonmusk - how serious are you about this bet? If I can make the $ happen (& politics), can you guarantee the 100MW in 100 days? https://t.co/av38xcizNo
— Mike Cannon-Brookes (@mcannonbrookes) March 9, 2017
Mr Cannon-Brookes confirmed he was dead serious about his offer to Mr Musk, and said his team had spent Thursday afternoon investigating the proposal. While it looked like a longshot, they concluded it is not unrealistic and they estimated it would cost at least $200 million.
Mr Musk, responding to Mr Cannon-Brookes about 6pm San Francisco time, said 'he'd get it done in 100 days or Tesla would do it for free. "That serious enough for you?"
In a series of further tweets Mr Cannon-Brookes urged Australia to solve the energy crisis "with software and innovation".
C’mon Australia. Do you want a) stable power, b) more coal and gas? You can answer “Yes” and “No”. Not answering might yield “No” and “Yes”. https://t.co/pvTimBmcUw
— Mike Cannon-Brookes (@mcannonbrookes) March 10, 2017
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has declared a national energy emergency, and the Australian Energy Market Operator warns that either gas users or electricity generators will go short in future unless something is done urgently.
The Atlassian co-CEO spoke at The Australian Financial Review Business Summit on Thursday.
CEFC chief executive Oliver Yates said the green bank was already talking to battery companies about storage for South Australia and "To the extent Tesla is interested, we'll also talk with them."
Mr Weatherill said he had already been in contact with both Tesla and Mr Cannon-Brookes ahead of talks about the proposal. "Already reached out looking forward to our discussion," Mr Weatherill said on Twitter.
A spokesman for Mr Weatherill declined to comment further about the specifics and how much funding the state government may be prepared to commit to advance such a proposal. But it was being taken very seriously and discussions would be held soon.
