One of the largest big battery projects to be added to Australia’s main grid has reached full output, just as its owner kicks off the process to find a buyer for one of the country’s dominant players in the sector.
The 415 megawatt (MW) and 1660 megawatt hour (MWh) Orana battery in the central west of NSW was one of the first, and the biggest at the time, to receive an underwriting agreement from a NSW tender as part of its renewable infrastructure roadmap.
It is the third – and so far the biggest – big battery project to be completed by Akaysha Energy since it emerged as the surprise winner of a tender to build the country’s most powerful battery at the site of the shuttered Munmorah coal fired power station in NSW.
That 850 MW, 1680 MWh Waratah battery has not yet been fully commissioned. It nearly got there, but a catastrophic incident with one of its transformers means a 12-month delay. It is operating at around half of its rated capacity for the moment.
Akaysha, meanwhile, has completed its smaller Ulinda Park and Brendale batteries, both in Queensland, and the Orana battery now appears on the verge of reaching commercial operations, having reached full output for the first time in the last week and has completed its hold point testing.
“Akaysha Energy can confirm the Orana BESS has come online and commissioning is now complete. As a result, Orana is now visible in the NEM, but has not yet reached commercial operations date (COD),” a spokesperson for Akaysha Energy said in an emailed statement.
“COD is a separate milestone and will follow once the final regulatory, market and contractual requirements are completed. We will provide another update when this is reached.”
The spokesperson said the project had been completed on time and under budget.
The milestone coincides with another tender win for Akaysha, this time for the Brinkworth battery in South Australia, one of six battery projects that were selected to provide eight hours of storage at times of system stress in what is the country’s most advanced renewable grid.
It also comes as reports emerge that Akaysha owner, the global investment giant BlackRock, has opened a data room for a potential sale of the company it bought in 2022, and which is also pursuing projects in Japan, Germany, the US and elsewhere.
According to the AFR’s Street Talk column, the documents predict earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of more than $600 million by the end of 2029. It not provide any further financial details.
The main money earner is likely to the Waratah battery, simply because of its scale and what appears to be a lucrative contract to act as a kind of giant “shock absorber” to the grid.
This contract was ostensibly to fill in the gap from the retirement of the Eraring coal generator, but delays to that closure means it will have only been closed for just over a year by the time the 5.5 year contract is concluded. Still, it will allow greater capacity to be imported into major load centres.
Orana has a long term offtake agreement with EnergyAustralia, and Akaysha is also building the 311 MW/1244 MWh Elaine battery in Victoria, which has a 15-year “virtual tolling” agreement for 220 MW with the federal government owned Snowy Hydro. Other big battery projects are also being developed.
If you would like to join more than 29,000 others and get the latest clean energy news delivered straight to your inbox, for free, please click here to subscribe to our free daily newsletter.
