The federal government has selected 15 new big battery projects across the eastern states to power more than 3.7 million households and putting downward pressure on energy prices.
Spanning New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, and South Australia, the projects boast a combined output of 4.2 gigawatts (GW) or 16.1 gigawatt hours (GWh) of clean, dispatchable energy storage.
The successful bids will inject an estimated AU$6 billion in private investment into the National Electricity Market (NEM).
Once operational, this represents enough storage capacity to meet the peak demand of more than 3.7 million households for up to four hours, effectively soaking up cheap solar energy during the day to dispatch when evening grid demand spikes.
The tender process was heavily oversubscribed, with developer interest outstripping the federal government’s target by nearly five to one. The strength and quality of the bids were clear, with proposed capacity exceeding the tender target by almost five to one.
Developer Ampyr emerged as the round’s biggest winner, securing backing for four multi-state ventures, including the massive 400 MW Rutherglen Battery near Gladstone in Queensland and the 375 MW Wimpole Battery in Victoria.
Federal Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen said the projects would safeguard the grid against price shocks and global energy volatility while accelerating Australia’s transition to net zero.
“Our Capacity Investment Scheme is turning Australia’s pipeline of clean energy projects into jobs in regional communities and cheaper, more reliable power for millions of homes,” Bowen said.
“We’ve got the best sun and wind in the world, and we’re using our sovereign renewables, stored in batteries, to shield our grid from global energy volatility and to bring down your energy bills.”
Beyond grid security, the 15 projects are expected to generate over 6,800 jobs across construction and maintenance lifetimes.
Contractual commitments from the developers will also channel roughly AU$343 million into local benefits, including AU$60 million in community benefit sharing, AU$220 million in First Nations participation initiatives, and over AU$50 million specifically earmarked for Australian-made steel.
Following this milestone, attention turns to Tender 10, which aims to secure a further 4 GW of dispatchable capacity before closing to bids on August 18.
