NSW to fund accelerated grid-connection of 2 GW of batteries

The New South Wales government has awarded AUD 8.4 million (USD 5.6m/EUR 5.2m) in grants to transmission network and electricity market operators to hire more engineers needed to fast-track the grid connection of four priority battery energy storage projects.

The government said on Wednesday its investment will bring forward the completion dates of the projects by up to 12 months.

The four priority projects include Akaysha Energy’s 850-MW/1,680-MWh Waratah Super Battery (WSB) in New South Wales with a two-hour storage duration, and the same company's 415-MW/1,660-MWh Orana battery near Wellington with a four-hour storage duration. The 275-MW Richmond Valley battery with an eight-hour storage duration proposed by Korea Zinc subsidiary Ark Energy in the state’s Northern Rivers region, and AGL’s 500-MW/1,000-MWh Lidell storage complex with a two-hour storage duration are the other two on the list.

Transgrid, the manager of the Aussie state’s high-voltage electricity transmission network, will receive AUD 3.2 million in grant funding to boost its technical personnel dealing with grid connections. The remaining AUD 5.2 million will go to the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) to hire additional staff to manage the grid connection process and coordinate with Transgrid to ensure the projects go online by 2025-2026.

The government noted that the grant financing will help minimise potential grid-connection delays and help address increased reliability risks identified in a recent AEMO report for 2024-2028.

(AUD 1.0 = USD 0.665/EUR 0.614)

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