BlackRock-owned Akaysha Energy has clinched a NSW government’s long-term energy service agreement (LTESA) for the construction and commissioning of a 415MW battery storage system in Australia.

Akaysha Energy will build and operate the Orana battery energy storage system (BESS), one of six projects, costing A$1.8bn (€1.1bn), which the NSW government has committed to under its renewable energy programme.

Orana BESS in Wellington will be one of the first facilities in Australia to deliver a four-hour system, compared to the one-to-two-hour battery storage facility currently available in Australia.

Combined with the long-term agreement, the Orana BESS, due for completion in December 2025, will enable up to 2GW of new renewable energy, with enough storage to power 90,000 homes per day.

Paul Curnow, Akaysha Energy’s managing director - strategy and general counsel, said: “The goal of the NSW government is to deliver a 70% cut in emissions by 2035 compared to 2005 levels, and the ability to reach this target and Net Zero by 2050 will require the private and public sector to work together to achieve this common goal.”

Asked about the importance of the LTESA to the viability of the project, Nick Carter, CEO and MD at Akaysha Energy, said: “LTESAs provide a 10-year guaranteed agreement with annuity cap. This, in turn, provides revenue certainty for private investment in new renewable energy generation, firming and long-duration storage.

“It will help secure finance for project construction and enable new forms of innovation, such as the four-hour storage capacity at Orana.”

Akaysha Energy has a pipeline of 10GWh of energy storage projects under planning, including the 1680MWh Waratah and now 1660MWh Orana BESS, and the four-hour, 1244MWh Elaine BESS in Victoria, said Carter.

In September, Akaysha formed a strategic partnership with Japan’s Itochu Corp to collaborate on utility-scale battery storage in Japan. It is also currently operating in the US.

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