Australia’s biggest battery project in first stage of commissioning, next to the biggest coal plant

Power utility Origin Energy says the first stage of its Eraring battery – which will be the biggest in the country when complete – has started the commissioning process.

The 460 MW, 920 MWh first stage entered the grid management system in March and has been charging and discharging small amounts into the grid as it works through its first “hold point” with the Australian Energy Market Operator.

A number of different battery projects under construction and in commissioning are competing for the title of Australia’s biggest battery project, including Akaysha Energy’s 850 MW, 1680 MWh Waratah Super Battery that can probably claim the title now, although it is yet to reach full production.

The Waratah battery will, however, be overtaken in size by Neoen’s Collie battery, which will total 560 MW and 2240 MWh when the second stage of that project is completed later this year.

Both project will be trumped by Eraring, which will be sized at 700 MW and 2,800 MWh when its third stage is complete, likely to be in 2027 when the giant 2,880 MW Eraring coal fired power station may be ready for closure.

The Eraring battery – despite its size – is the first to be built by Origin Energy, although it is also building the Mortlake battery next to its gas generator in Victoria, and has signed contracts for the output of Quinbrook’s Supernode battery complex in Brisbane.

“Large-scale battery projects under construction at Mortlake and Eraring continue to progress well, with Eraring stage 1 reaching the milestone of holdpoint 1 testing with AEMO,” Origin CEO Frank Calabria said in a statement accompanying the company’s quarterly production report on Wednesday.

Origin last week also received confirmation that its 1.5 GW Yanco Delta wind project – which could also be the biggest in the country depending on its timeline – has secure transmission access rights in the south-west renewable energy zone in NSW.

It was the only one of four renewable and storage projects to be allocated their full capacity in the heavily contested tender, which resulted in just 3.5 GW of capacity awarded despite interest from nearly 20 GW of projects.