November 17, 2022: Powin said today it would deliver the “world’s most powerful” BESS to Australia after Akaysha Energy won a tender to develop the 1.9GWh Waratah Super Battery in New South Wales.
Akaysha, which was acquired by global funds manager BlackRock in August, has been selected by the Energy Corporation of NSW to develop the battery and provide services of at least 700MW of capacity, as part of a system that integrates renewable energy with existing transmission system while maintaining grid reliability.
Powin, who announced a separate partnership with Akaysha in August to provide Stack lithium-ion BESS technology, said the Waratah project will be supplied with 2,592 of its modular Centipede ‘energy parts’ comprising batteries, thermal management equipment and safety systems, plus 288 power conversion systems from Powin subsidiary EKS Energy. The Centipede iteration of Powin’s Stack BESS line launches in November 2021.
The battery developer will also provide a 20-year service agreement for the Waratah, which is set to be built 100km north of Sydney at a former power station.
The project has been designated as critical state infrastructure by the NSW government.
Construction is scheduled to begin in 2023, subject to approval, and the project is expected to be completed by mid-2025.
Powin CEO Geoff Brown said the project marks “an important moment for the industry as we begin to replace carbon-emitting power plants with cleaner, more efficient, and faster responsive energy storage systems“.
