Waratah Super Battery Project

The Waratah Super Battery Project is being delivered as a priority transmission infrastructure project under the Electricity Infrastructure Investment Act 2020 (the Act), and is the first such project to be delivered under this act.

On 14 October 2022, the Minister for Energy appointed Transgrid as network operator and formally directed Transgrid to carry out the Waratah Super Battery Project under the act, published in the NSW Gazette here.

As network operator, Transgrid is coordinating the delivery of the project components described above and will be responsible for operating the SIPS once the project is operational.

In our role as infrastructure planner for the Waratah Super Battery Project, we appointed Akaysha Energy as the SIPS service provider following a competitive procurement process conducted throughout 2022.

Akaysha Energy are responsible for the construction of a battery energy storage system located at the former Munmorah coal-fired power station that can provide a guaranteed continuous active power capacity of at least 700 megawatts and a guaranteed useable energy storage capacity of at least 1400 megawatt-hours for the purposes of providing the SIPS service.

For the project to operate safely, the SIPS service must be paired with generators to create a “virtual transmission line”. 

In the event of a network event, the SIPS control will issue a signal to discharge stored energy from the battery energy storage system into the network and simultaneously issue a signal for the paired generators to ramp down their power output, removing the potential for an overload on the transmission network, until the network event is resolved. 

The Waratah Super Battery Project's battery energy storage system will be on the site of the former Munmorah Power Station site at 301 Scenic Drive, Colongra (the Munmorah Site). 

On 2 September 2022, the Minister for Planning declared the potential development of the Waratah Super Battery Project on the Munmorah site as critical State significant infrastructure, in recognition of the critical nature of the project to NSW’s energy security.

For more information about the critical State significant infrastructure process, please refer to the NSW Government’s Department of Planning website.

We prepared a comprehensive environmental impact statement (EIS) which assessed the impacts of the Waratah Super Battery Project on the environment and surrounding communities. As part of the preparation of the EIS, we consulted with a range of stakeholders, including residents in the surrounding community.

The EIS was publicly exhibited between 11 November and 8 December 2022. Following the consultation period and after review of submissions, the NSW Government granted planning approval for the construction and operation of the project on 23 February 2023. A copy of the EIS determination is available on the Department of Planning Housing and Infrastructure’s (DPHI)  major projects website.

On 31 May 2023, Akaysha Energy began construction on the battery storage system at the Munmorah site. Construction for the project was completed in October 2024 and it is now undergoing testing and commissioning. 

The Waratah Super Battery Project is composed of two contestable components (a SIPS service and paired generation services) and a non-contestable component (network augmentations and SIPS control). 

The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) in its role as regulator under the Electricity Infrastructure Investment Act 2020, is required to make revenue determinations for each component of the Waratah Super Battery Project.

Under the Act, the Scheme Financial Vehicle (SFV) must pay the network operator in accordance with the amounts set out in the AER’s revenue determination. The SFV recovers the cost of the NSW Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap from distribution network service providers who in turn recover those costs from NSW electricity consumers through network charges on their retail bills.

The AER has made and published the following revenue determinations.

• On 14 December 2022, a revenue determination was made for the SIPS Service (contestable) component of the Waratah Super Battery project. On 16 June 2023, the AER made an annual adjustment to the SIPS service determination. The determination can be accessed here.
• On 29 November 2023, a revenue determination was made for the contestable paired generation services component of the project. On 13 May 2024, the AER decided to review and remake the determination for the addition of a third paired generation provider. This determination can be accessed here.
• On 15 December 2023, a revenue determination was made for the non-contestable network augmentations and SIPS control system of the project. On 19 June 2024, the AER decided to review and remake the determination to include an additional adjust mechanism to update the return on equity. The determination can be accessed here.