Octopus spends first of Australian war-chest with purchase of NSW battery project

Octopus Australia’s first deal after securing a $1 billion cash injection is to buy a four hour battery in southern New South Wales (NSW), a shovel-ready project with all approvals in hand.

But the company says this deal wasn’t paid for from the new funds.

The Coleambally battery is a 100 megawatt (MW), four hour battery project west of Wagga Wagga, and comes with a grid connection and planning approval. 

It will take the company’s portfolio of projects it’s either invested in or developing itself to 17, of which more than half will be big batteries.  Half of them are located in NSW.

“It’s a major step toward meeting New South Wales’ long-term storage targets and reliably firming renewable energy,” said Octopus Australia’s Kian Nam Loke in a statement.

“It is strategically located in one of the state’s strongest renewable corridors, Coleambally allows us to capture solar generation during the day and shift it to when it’s needed most.”

Loke says they’re buying into a story around certainty, and the idea that if you build energy storage systems near generation that can smooth out prices and supply.  

He believes that tapping into that desire for certain returns is where long term value in energy lies. 

The Colembally battery will sit across a paddock from Neoen’s existing 150 MW solar farm of the same name, and just outside the South-West renewable energy zone – the zone that many believe is limited due to a mistake that saw Australia’s biggest transmission project, Project EnergyConnect, built too small. 

Octopus bought the project from Chinese solar and battery developer Risen Energy, which launched the project into the public consciousness in 2023. 

Securing a buyer like Octopus for one of its developments is a coup for Risen Energy Australia, with country manager Qiao Nan Han saying it’s proof the company can”develop and deliver the complex, grid-scale assets that the Australian energy market needs.”

The deal is the first major purchase to come after Dutch pension fund APG put $1 billion into one of Octopus Australia’s two main funds in late July. 

It means the Coleambally battery is just the first of a volley of acquisitions the company is about to embark on, as it has big ambitions to double a development and operating portfolio that is worth $11 billion today.

Octopus Australia is the antipodean sister business of UK tech and retailer Octopus Energy, of which Origin Energy owns 23 per cent.

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