German big battery specialist launches Australian subsidiary, locks in first two utility-scale storage projects

German-founded hybrid energy generation and storage solutions specialist SMA Altenso has announced the launch of a new Australian subsidiary, with plans to work up a gigawatt-scale big battery pipeline and pursue hydrogen projects.

Altenso is a subsidiary of German giant SMA Solar Technology and, in Australia, already has a hand in two four-hour battery energy storage systems (BESS) in NSW – the Moree and Deniliquin batteries, both sized at 120 megawatts (MW) and 480 megawatt-hours (MWh).

Both projects are being developed by Avenis Energy, with ready-to-build status expected in the next few months and construction on both projects penciled in to start by mid 2026.

In a statement announcing the collaboration in July, Avenis Energy described Altenso as “a bankable technology partner with deep engineering expertise” and “a battery integration partner.”

Altenso Australia will be based in Sydney, where it will headed up by Julien Tissandier. It is one of SMA Altenso’s newest international offshoots and the company says it will focus on a “gigawatt scale” pipeline of battery projects, as well as hydrogen projects.

Altenso is not developing or co-developing any hydrogen projects in Australia at the moment, but told Renew Economy it is contributing through supply and integration scopes for selected hydrogen initiatives.

“At present, Altenso Australia’s primary focus is on battery energy storage system (BESS) projects, where we are interested in developing and co-developing projects,” a company spokesperson said in emailed comments.

“Altenso is actively engaged as a system integrator in multiple other large-scale energy storage projects and opportunities (not able to be announced at this stage) and continues to explore new prospects in the Australian market,” the spokesperson said.

Tissandier says Altenso Australia also hopes to “add fresh perspectives and competitive energy” to the rapidly evolving utility-scale energy storage sector.

“The first projects, together with our strategic partner Avenis, represent just the beginning of Altenso’s Australian pipeline and underscore our deep commitment to enabling Australia’s clean energy transition,” he said on Friday.

Altenso says it has had a hand in BESS projects totalling more than 1.5 gigawatts (GW) globally and has delivered more than 1 GW of power conversion units to hydrogen projects.

The SMA subsidiary first launched as SMA Sunbelt Energy in Germany in 2014, as a solution provider for complex PV hybrid, off-grid, grid-connected battery energy storage systems (BESS) and hydrogen (P2G) applications.

The new company soon turned its focus to large-scale battery and hydrogen projects and changed its name to SMA Altenso – a portmanteau of “Alternative Energy Solutions.”

SMA Australia provides PV, battery, and hybrid inverter technology solutions – mainly for residential and commercial and industrial projects and is well established in Australia.

SMA Altenso specialises in large-scale utility projects, acting as a system integrator for battery storage, hydrogen applications, and hybrid solutions for both off-grid and grid-connected energy supplies.