Eight-hour battery gets FIRB approval as loss-making developer seeks key funding for construction

US-listed Energy Vault has secured final approval to acquire its biggest battery storage project – the 125 megawatt (MW)/1,000 MWh Stoney Creek eight-hour battery project located near Narrabri in NSW.

The deal to purchase the battery from Australian developer Enervest was sealed last week after the Australian Government’s Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) gave the green light for the acquisition, first announced in March of this year.

“The formal acquisition of Stoney Creek represents a first and very significant milestone in Energy Vault’s long-term investment strategy for Australia,” said Robert Piconi, the chairman and CEO of Energy Vault.

The project was one of three to be awarded a 14-year underwriting agreement known as a Long Term Energy Service Agreement (LTESA) earlier this year as part of the NSW Government’s fifth LDES tender. 

Energy Vault first grabbed headline in 2019 when it completed a significant capital raise to develop its unique gravity-based energy storage technology.

Although the company has made some progress in developing these projects, including completing construction of one located in China, it is now focused on becoming a fully-fledged independent power producer (IPP) of lithium-ion-based assets.

The company says it has obtained an “exclusivity agreement” for a $US300 million preferred equity investment to launch a dedicated storage IPP subsidiary called “Asset Vault” that will act as an EPC business to build Stoney Creek and other projects totalling more than 1.5 GW.

The company has developed two battery storage projects in the US, including a novel 8.5MW/293MWh long-duration storage complex called the Calistoga Resiliency Center (CRC), that combines hydrogen fuel cells and lithium-ion batteries.

Energy Vault has so far built up a 2.8GWh portfolio of Australian energy storage projects that now make up the majority of its global portfolio. It is also developing the shorter duration 250 MW/1,000 MWh Meadow Creek BESS next to a 330 MW solar farm in Victoria, as well as a third 100 MW/800 MWh BESS. 

On Friday, Australian time, Energy Vault announced an increased net loss of $US18.2 million for the June quarter, compared to a $US13.4 million in the same period a year ago.

It is starting to earn revenues from its 57 MW / 114 MWh Cross Tails battery in Texas, and Piconi says the Stoney Creek battery is expected to deliver earnings of around $US20 million a year when it is up and running in 2027.

It estimates a boost in annual revenues to around $US200-$US250 million, reflecting the timing of U.S. battery deliveries and project timelines, it said.