Macquarie’s Eku Energy is turning its attention to New Zealand, buying a battery project in Waikato that it aims to co-develop with large-scale solar company Helios Energy.
The project is a battery with a 300MW capacity and a duration yet to be confirmed, and is set to connect to Transpower’s Whakamaru substation.
There are two other standalone battery energy storage systems (BESS) proposed for the Waikato region.
Harmony Energy is currently building a 100 megawatt (MW) BESS which is expected to be connected to the grid by mid-2026, and there is another 100MW proposal in early stage design.
New Zealand has some similarities with Australia such as growing renewable energy generation and ageing coal infrastructure, said Eku Energy’s Stuart Hillen in a statement.
“Batteries will deliver greater energy security to New Zealand as the proportion of renewable energy on the grid grows,” he said.
Eku Energy has a track record in Australia, including the 150MW/150MWh Hazelwood BESS, a 150MW / 150MWh battery that was built on the site of the former coal fired power station in Victoria; and the newly connected Rangebank BESS, a 200MW / 400MWh battery in Cranbourne West, Victoria.
It has also been active in the UK, Italian and Japanese markets.
But New Zealand is a jurisdiction that doesn’t yet have regulations governing batteries, according to an executive from the country’s grid owner and operation.
Last week Raewyn Moss told an industry forum that Transpower is adapting regulations designed for generation to manage BESS connections while it waits on new rules.
The grid operator only had six connection requests for standalone BESS as of June, 25 requests for solar and BESS projects and one for a wind-battery combination.
Eku Energy is jointly owned by Macquarie Asset Management and British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI), and works in Australia, Japan, the UK and now New Zealand.
