Renewables developer Equis Australia has announced the beginning of construction on the 250MW/500MWh Calala Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) near Tamworth in New South Wales.
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Structured as two independent projects at 100MW and 150MW each with 2-hours of storage capacity, the BESS has enough power to supply up to 115,000 homes during peak periods.
The 100MW/200MWh portion of the battery is underpinned by a long-term offtake agreement with SmartestEnergy (Australia) for 100% of its capacity. This is SmartestEnergy’s first large-scale BESS tolling agreement, marking a significant milestone in its Australian expansion.
With the BESS set to be connected directly to the NSW grid, the partnership represents a shared vision to continue driving Australia’s energy transition forward through providing firming capacity and enhancing grid reliability.
On financing, Equis secured a $260m non-recourse senior debt financing package from Westpac, Societe Generale and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation—the first merchant BESS debt financing in NSW.
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The Calala BESS will be connected to NSW’s electricity grid via an underground cable to the 330kV Tamworth Substation.
