New South Wales’ Energy Security Corporation (ESC) will invest $100 million in the rollout of a large-scale battery platform across Sydney, Newcastle, and the Hunter Central Coast to strengthen electricity reliability as coal-fired power stations age and retire.
The NSW Government established the ESC to accelerate co-investment in the critical energy projects needed to deliver a reliable and secure energy system for the state.
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The inaugural ESC investment will support construction of a battery network expected to reach up to 1GW of capacity by 2031.
The funding will support the construction of four batteries. The first two are 200MW projects located at Steel River Industrial Estate in Newcastle and Homebush in Sydney. The next two will have a capacity of approximately 100MW and 150MW.
Combined, all four will have the capacity to power up to 118,000 homes a day. The first 500MW of storage is expected to be operational by early 2029, as NSW’s coal generators begin to retire. A further 150MW is expected to be added in late 2029.
This investment reflects the ESC’s role in bringing forward projects in parts of the system where timing and location are critical for the energy transition, delivering the storage capacity needed to maintain reliability as coal-fired power stations go offline.
Work on the first project at Steel River Industrial Estate in Newcastle is expected to commence in July. The battery projects will be delivered by PLUS Grid Storage, a separate entity within the Ausgrid Group responsible for building, owning and operating distribution-connected battery storage. PLUS Grid Storage operates independently from Ausgrid’s regulated network business.
Energy Security Corporation CEO Paul Peters said, “This is a platform investment in one of the state’s most critical load centres, where demand is highest, land is constrained and the need for storage is most immediate.
“PLUS Grid Storage’s ability to deliver these projects by 2029, while making better use of existing infrastructure, were critical factors in our decision to invest in this battery platform.
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“The Energy Security Corporation is looking forward to its next set of investments as we work to support a reliable and secure electricity system for NSW.”
