Akaysha Energy has commenced construction on its 311MW/1244MWh BESS (battery energy storage system) at Elaine in Victoria.
This comes after the company closed a $460 million finance facility with the backing of both international and domestic banks, including Commonwealth Bank of Australia, ING and BNP Paribas.
The financing is underpinned by a 15-year, 220MW virtual tolling agreement with Snowy Hydro, marking the latter’s first battery toll agreement and the largest four-hour virtual toll agreement in Australia.
Tesla and Consolidated Power Projects are supporting the delivery of the Elaine BESS, which will be an important asset in not only managing transmission outage risks but also encouraging the integration of more wind and solar into the National Electricity Market (NEM).
“Securing this $460 million facility is another important step in delivering our market-leading portfolio of large-scale energy storage infrastructure to push forward Australia’s energy transition,” Akaysha Energy chief financial and investment officer Andrew Wegman said.
“The strong support from lenders reflects the critical role that battery storage plays in the NEM, and Akaysha Energy’s ability to deliver complex projects at scale.
“This financing demonstrates how institutional capital continues to play a fundamental role in accelerating Australia’s clean energy build-out.”
The milestones at Elaine follow the start of operations at the Waratah Super Battery, with the first 350MW brought online in early August.
Commissioned in partnership with the NSW Government, Waratah is said to be the world’s most powerful battery in terms of power and energy storage capacity, boasting 850MW/1680MWh of capacity.
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