Setting a new benchmark for the Australian energy market, the New South Wales (NSW) hydro-electric company Snowy Hydro has inked its first, and a 15-year, virtual tolling agreement (VTA) with Melbourne-based developer Akaysha Energy for its 311 MW / 1,244 MWh Elaine BESS in Victoria.
At 220 MW contracted capacity, the battery offtake agreement is the largest four-hour virtual toll arrangement in the Australian market, setting a precedent for the sector.
Over the 15-year term, the VTA will enable Snowy Hydro’s ability to manage wholesale market volatility and enhance product offering to mass-market, large-scale commercial, industrial, and wholesale customers, and retaining the right to notionally charge and discharge a ‘virtual battery’ as if it owned or operated the Elaine BESS.
Delivering the benefits of physically building and operating a battery, without the capital, construction and operational burden, the VTA makes it a highly capital-efficient solution.
Image: Snowy Hydro
Snowy Hydro Chief Executive Officer Dennis Barnes said the deal with Akaysha adds a new short-duration storage layer to the Snowy Hydro portfolio.
“This will work hand-in-hand with the long-duration storage capabilities of our pumped hydro assets,” Barnes said.
“Snowy’s unique portfolio of on-demand power stations and electricity storage is the key to the strength of our contribution to reliable electricity supply to homes and businesses and to the introduction of more wind and solar across the grid.”
Snowy Hydro currently manages 5,500 MW of generating capacity, which will increase when Snowy 2.0 comes online, adding 2,200 MW of pumped hydro storage capacity by late 2028.
Akaysha Energy
For Akaysha, the VTA underpins its southwest Victorian BESS financing with highly bankable contracted revenues.
Akaysha Energy Managing Director and Chief Commercial Officer Paul Curnow said partnering with Snowy Hydro shows how flexible, long-term virtual offtake arrangements can unlock major battery projects and deliver value in the wholesale energy market.
“The agreement represents a step change in the way large-scale storage can be delivered to the market and showcases strong market confidence in the value of BESS as a long-term energy solution,” Curnow said.
The agreement is Akaysha Energy’s second VTA, after it signed a 12-year, 200 MW offtake VTA in August 2024 with Melbourne-based gentailer EnergyAustralia for it’s under construction 415 MW / 1,660 MWh Orana Bess, in the Central-West Orana Renewable Energy Zone (CWO REZ) in NSW.
The Orana BESS agreement was underpinned by $650 million (USD 428 million) debt financing from a syndicate of 11 domestic and global banks to fund the construction of the battery.
In February 2025, Akaysha Energy announced a long-term battery revenue swap agreement (BRSA) with global commodities trading house Gunvor Group for Akaysha’s under construction Queensland-based 205 MW / 410 MWh Brendale BESS.
In July 2023, Akaysha completed what was the first BRSA of its kind at the time, with Bermuda-based climate risk financier Re2 Capital, for its 155 MW / 330 MWh Ulinda Park BESS in Queensland’s Western Downs, and which was recently won an Australian government Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS) tender.
Akaysha’s total contracted capacity across its portfolio now exceeds 1.6 GW, including two assets in construction and two in final commissioning.
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