Tesla Said To Implement Changes To Megapack Firmware For Victoria Project After Fire, Testing Resumes Wednesday

French renewable energy giant Neoen SA NOSPF plans to resume testing of a large energy storage project in Victoria, Australia, after a fire in July halted progress, CNBC reported on Monday, citing the company.

What Happened: The grid-scale project run by Neon plans to switch back on the Tesla Inc TSLA Megapacks on Wednesday. 

Safety regulators have cleared the Victoria Big Battery project to resume the testing near Melbourne. Australian regulators had asked Neoen and Tesla to suspend some operations so investigations could be completed.

A Neoen spokesperson told CNBC that “the cause of the fire was identified as coinciding short circuits in two particular locations likely initiated by a coolant leak external to the battery compartment.” the spokesperson said. 

“These occurred while the Megapack was off-line in a service mode that removed fault protections. Enabled by this unlikely sequence of events the fault was able to go undetected and initiate a fire in the adjacent battery compartment.”

Tesla took "mitigating actions" and has implemented changes to the Megapack firmware after conducting an analysis, according to Neoen.

See Also: Tesla Megapack In Australia Catches Fire

Why It Matters: The energy storage system run by Neoen is key to avoiding blackouts — especially during heat waves— by using alternative sources of energy such as solar and wind power in the region.

Tesla’s Megapack is its third stationary energy storage product after the Powerwall and Powerpack. Earlier this year, the company revealed the pricing of its Megapack industrial-scale battery energy storage system, starting at $1 million. Annual maintenance for a single Megapack comes in at $6,570 and increases 2% per year.

Price Action: Tesla shares closed 2.19% higher at $791.36 on Monday.

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Photo: Courtesy of Tesla