One of the largest big battery projects to be added to Australia’s main grid has reached full output, just as its owner kicks off the process to find a buyer for one of the country’s dominant players in the sector.
The 415 megawatt (MW) and 1660 megawatt hour (MWh) Orana battery in the central west of NSW was one of the first, and the biggest at the time, to receive an underwriting agreement from a NSW tender as part of its renewable infrastructure roadmap.
It is the third – and so far the biggest – big battery project to be completed by Akaysha Energy since it emerged as the surprise winner of a tender to build the country’s most powerful battery at the site of the shuttered Munmorah coal fired power station in NSW.
Orana battery output. Source: Open Electricity.
That 850 MW, 1680 MWh Waratah battery has not yet been fully commissioned. It nearly got there, but a catastrophic incident with one of its transformers means a 12-month delay. It is operating at around half of its rated capacity for the moment.
