Quinbrook has announced the successful start of commercial operations for Stage 1 of its Supernode battery storage project, located at the South Pine substation in Brisbane.
Stage 1 is now operating at full output to the Queensland electricity grid with the commercial tolling of Stage 1 under the management of Origin Energy.
Supernode Stage 1 is a 260MW Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) with 619MWh of installed capacity.
Related article: Quinbrook to further expand Supernode Battery
Construction is ongoing for Stages 2 and 3 which will be complete over 2026 and 2027 respectively and is set to increase Supernode’s capacity to 780MW/3,074MWh.
Once fully operational, the first three stages of Supernode will support the power needs of approximately 188,000 typical Queensland households during evening peak periods.
“Today’s milestone is a testament to the teamwork and execution capability of our people and those of our partners. It also reflects the strength of Quinbrook’s long-term partnership with Origin Energy, whose collaboration and offtake commitment has been instrumental in delivering this globally significant project,” Quinbrook CEO Brian Restall said.
Origin Energy executive general manager energy supply and operations Greg Jarvis said, “I congratulate the Quinbrook team on reaching this significant milestone, which delivers additional storage capacity to the market.
“The 260MW from Supernode Stage 1 brings Origin’s operational large-scale battery capacity to 710MW, following the commencement of Eraring Battery 1 earlier this year.
“With Supernode Stage 2, along with our Eraring 2 and Mortlake batteries, coming online in the coming months, Origin’s battery storage portfolio will grow to 1.7GW across owned and tolled large-scale projects. This investment underscores the critical role Origin sees battery storage playing in supporting the energy transition.”
Supernode is being delivered in partnership with Quinbrook’s own specialist project execution team at Private Energy Partners, who have supported the design, procurement and construction of all Stages and who will oversee longer term asset management.
Related article: Supernode Battery Stage 1 connects to Queensland grid
Quinbrook’s investment for Stages 1, 2 and 3 is expected to exceed $1.4 billion, with priority given to sourcing local labour, services and equipment from Brisbane and South-East Queensland. The financing of Supernode Stages 1 and 2 is believed to represent the largest debt financing for a standalone BESS project in Australia to date.
Quinbrook is also progressing plans for a Stage 4 expansion of Supernode, currently in pre-construction, which is expected to host the first deployment of Quinbrook’s EnerQB long-duration energy storage solution, developed in exclusive partnership with CATL.
