Waratah Super Battery starts work as NSW grid shock absorber

newy.com.au – The Waratah Super Battery Project on the Central Coast began partial operation on 5 August 2025, switching on 350 megawatts, 700 megawatt hours, of capacity to act as a shock absorber for the New South Wales grid in the event of transmission line outages, with full operation expected later this year. Located at the former Munmorah coal fired power station site, the project is part of the state’s plan to modernise the network and maintain reliable, affordable energy as ageing coal plants retire.

About half of the battery’s capacity is now operating alongside an overarching control system, agreements with paired generators and the first stage of upgrades to the existing transmission network. Once complete, the system will provide 850 megawatts and 1,680 megawatt hours. Billed as the most powerful utility scale battery in the world and the largest system integrity protection scheme in Australia, it monitors 36 transmission lines in real time and can respond instantly to major events. During a fault such as a lightning strike or bushfire, the control system instructs the battery to inject power while directing paired generators to trim output to keep the system balanced. The battery can also discharge during periods of high demand to ease wholesale prices.

EnergyCo is overseeing delivery, Transgrid is the network operator and Akaysha Energy operates the battery storage system. Transgrid has designed and installed the System Integrity Protection Scheme Control System and completed upgrade works at 22 substations and four transmission lines across New South Wales to support the project. More than $1 billion in private investment has been attracted, with about 1,000 people involved in design and construction, including 170 workers on site during the battery build, around 100 local jobs on the Central Coast and in Newcastle, and 474 workers delivering network augmentations and the control system statewide.

“The Waratah Super Battery is one of the biggest in the world, and a crucial addition to our energy system. As it comes online, it will help power our homes and businesses while stabilising the grid to avoid blackouts,” Minister for Climate Change and Energy Penny Sharpe said.

EnergyCo Chief Executive Hannah McCaughey said, “Switching on the Waratah Super Battery Project is a win for our grid and a win for households and businesses across NSW. It will help provide clean, reliable and affordable energy to the people of our state and the National Electricity Market. It’s a fantastic example of how new technologies bring new solutions for our energy needs. This is the first of our projects to go into operation, and there are many more to come. We look forward to more milestones in our renewable energy zones this year.”

Akaysha Energy Chief Executive Nick Carter said, “Bringing the first 350 megawatts of the Waratah Super Battery online is a major milestone and a moment of real pride for everyone at Akaysha Energy. This achievement is the result of a tremendous collective effort spanning our global business units across all areas such as delivery, engineering, commercial and legal, technical integration, grid modelling, software, operations and trading. Of course, we could not achieve success without our outstanding delivery partners – CPP, Hitachi Energy and Wilson Transformer Company. Delivering this scale of infrastructure on such an accelerated timeline is no small feat, and we are honoured to have been entrusted to deliver a project of such significance to NSW’s energy security.”

Transgrid Chief Executive Brett Redman said, “Transgrid is proud to work with EnergyCo and Akaysha Energy to deliver the Waratah Super Battery Project, the first priority transmission infrastructure project under the NSW Government’s Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap. To support the project, Transgrid’s experts have designed and installed a System Integrity Protection Scheme Control System which is the largest and most innovative of its kind in Australia. Specialist crews have also carried out upgrade work at 22 substations and 4 existing transmission lines across NSW to deliver additional energy to consumers when it’s needed.”