Sydney-headquartered gentailer AGL has begun commissioning of the first 250 MW of the 500 MW / 1,000 MWh 2-hour grid-scale Liddell Battery at AGL’s Hunter Energy Hub in New South Wales (NSW).
Construction of the battery, which sits next to the closed Liddell Power Station, approximately 230 kilometres northwest of Sydney, is complete, and the battery is scheduled for full commercial operations by June 2026.
AGL Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Damien Nicks said the milestone marks an important step in the transformation of the former Liddell Power Station site into AGL’s vision for an industrial energy hub.
“In April 2023 we closed Liddell Power Station after 50 years of operation with a celebration of the people of Liddell and the contribution that the power station made to the Hunter region and Australia’s energy system,” Nicks said.
“This battery will deliver important firming storage for the energy system which is increasingly needed as coal exits the market, and the percentage of renewable generation increases.”
The Liddell Battery will provide storage capacity and supporting system stability in the National Electricity Market (NEM) and will join AGL’s expanding portfolio of grid-scale batteries, including the 250 MW Torrens Island Battery, the 50 MW Broken Hill Battery, and the under-construction 500 MW Tomago Battery.
AGL Chief Operations and Construction Officer Matthew Currie said completing construction and entering the commissioning phase was a major achievement for the project team and AGL’s construction partner, Fluence Energy.
“Completing construction on a project of this scale is a testament to the capability of our teams and our construction partner, Fluence Energy. More than 600 workers have contributed to the construction and commissioning of this battery,” Currie said.
Federal Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen said Liddell helped power New South Wales for generations and now the same site is helping power the next chapter, with one of Australia’s largest batteries backing reliable renewable energy for decades to come.
“The Hunter has always been an energy powerhouse, and it will remain one. Our job is to make sure communities like this are at the centre of Australia’s energy transformation, with more investment, more reliable power and more local jobs.”
The battery project has been supported by both a $35 million (USD 24 million) grant awarded by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) as part of its Advancing Renewables Program and a Long-Term Energy Service Agreement (LTESA), awarded by ASL as part of the NSW Roadmap.
AGL continues to progress the transformation of the Liddell site as part of its vision to create an integrated energy hub with a grid-scale battery, and potential partners in materials recovery and recycling, low carbon fuels and data centres all under consideration.
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