Akaysha reaches commercial milestone with 1,660 MWh battery

Akaysha Energy, the battery storage developer backed by United States-based investment giant BlackRock, announced that its 415 MW / 1,660 MWh Orana battery energy storage system (BESS) in central west New South Wales (NSW) has started commercial operations. The milestone comes just weeks after the facility achieved full output.

The four-hour duration facility, that comprises 448 Tesla Megapack units, is located near the town of Wellington within the Central-West Orana Renewable Energy Zone which is forecast to host 3 GW of new renewable energy generation.

Tony Fullelove, Managing Director of Development and Delivery at Akaysha, said the AC-coupled Orana battery has been designed to enhance grid reliability and support the expansion of solar and wind projects in the National Electricity Market (NEM).

“The Orana BESS is set to play a major role in supporting firming capacity and grid reliability, allowing more renewable energy to be integrated into the NSW electricity system,” he said.

The battery is underpinned by a commercial structure that includes a 10-year long-term energy service agreement with the NSW and Commonwealth governments. This deal requires Akaysha to deliver at least half the capacity in the event of a supply shortfall declared by the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO).

It is also supported by a 12-year ‘virtual toll’ offtake agreement with electricity generator and retailer EnergyAustralia. The offtake allows EnergyAustralia to virtually ‘charge’ and ‘discharge’ 200 MW as a financial product that is separate to the physical operation of the battery. 

“The virtual tolling agreement for the Orana BESS gives EnergyAustralia access to the market benefits of large-scale battery storage, including fast-response capacity and greater flexibility,” Fullelove said.

EnergyAustralia Trading and Transition Executive Daniel Nugent said the virtual toll product aligns with the company’s strategic direction and intent to transition to a low-carbon future.

“Our virtual tolling agreement with Akaysha gives us access to a large-scale battery’s firming capability and the ability to soak up renewable energy that would otherwise be wasted, without owning or operating the asset ourselves,” he said.

“As part of a portfolio mix, it’s a model that helps get batteries financed and built and gets more storage into the market sooner.”

The Orana battery is Akaysha’s fourth completed project and takes in operational portfolio beyond 4 GWh. The Melbourne-headquartered company also has an estimated 30 GWh in the pipeline across Australia, Germany, Japan and the United States.

The Orana facility is the third-biggest operational battery in the NEM, eclipsed only by the 460 MW / 1,770 MWh first stage of Origin’s Eraring Battery 1 and Akaysha’s own 850 MW / 1,680 MWh Waratah Super Battery, which has experienced difficulties in recent months following a transformer failure as it continued to work towards full operational status.

Akaysha earlier this month announced that the Waratah battery is now operating at 700 MW, or 82% of total capacity, and at 1,680 MWh, which is its full rated energy capacity, after the successful return to service of transformer 2. The full 850 MW / 1,680 MWh capacity is expected to be online later this year with the return to service of transformer 3.