Plans to build a big battery with one gigawatt-hour of energy storage capacity in north-western New South Wales have taken a major step forward this week, with Swiss storage giant Energy Vault completing its purchase of the project site and setting a tentative start-date for construction.
Energy Vault in late 2024 signed a deal with Australian developer Enervest to deploy the 125 megawatt (MW) and up to 1,000 megawatt-hour (MWh) Stoney Creek battery energy storage system (BESS) in Narrabri, the two companies joining forces to finalise development, grid approvals and financial close.
The Stoney Creek BESS was, at the time, one of 17 grid-scale battery projects Enervest had in its development pipeline, ranging in size from 40MW to 800MW and spread across four states, including NSW, South Australia, Victoria and Queensland.
The deal in 2024 signed up Energy Vault as the turn-key partner for the project, bringing its engineering, procurement, construction, and long-term maintenance services. The BESS will use the Swiss company’s X-Vault integration platform, B-Vault product, and Vault-OS Energy Management System.
Energy Vault said this week it now officially owns the Stoney Creek BESS project site, following receipt of the required Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) approval – a milestone that secures long-term site control and further de-risks the project as it “advances toward construction.”
