Batteries are getting to work in NSW and the National Electricity Market more broadly, with a host of new records set over the past week.
In three of four business days from Wednesday April 8 to Monday April 13, NSW lifted the threshold for battery discharge over a day, with 3906 megawatt-hours (MWh) on Wednesday trumped by 3964MWh on Friday, before soaring to 6165MWh on Monday.
At four points between 6pm and 6:20pm on Monday, NSW batteries discharged record energy to the National Electricity Market (NEM) at a single point in time, with each discharge topping 1000MW. The highest mark was achieved at 6:20pm when 1042MW was discharged.
The Eraring BESS (battery energy storage system) in NSW was called on during evening peaks, single-handedly discharging its full capacity of 460MW at 6:30pm. This followed a 458MW discharge at 6pm.
The Smithfield BESS discharged its full capacity of 65MW at 6:30pm, while the Limondale BESS also contributed during evening peaks, discharging its full capacity of 50MW at 9:30pm.
Other contributors included the 50MW Broken Hill BESS, as well as the Darlington Point, and Riverina 1 and 2 BESS co-located just south of Griffith in southern NSW.
The 500MW Liddell BESS has been commissioning during this period, with two >160MW discharges at 1pm and 4pm on Friday followed by a 67MW discharge at 4pm on Monday.
The first 250MW of the Liddell facility commenced commissioning on March 20, with the battery ramping up to full capacity by June 2026.
NSW’s record battery discharge amounted to the NEM achieving its own new mark, topping its most recent record by more than 3000MWh to reach 16,020MWh on Monday (previous record was 12,980MWh on February 10).
To learn more, visit Open Electricity.
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