Battery energy storage systems (BESS) have affirmed their growing role in the electricity market, achieving a new battery discharge record in the National Electricity Market (NEM), according to data from Open Electricity.
Tuesday saw 12.98 gigawatt-hours (GWh) discharged across the network, topping the previous mark of 11.16GWh on February 4.
This was achieved by higher-than-average battery contributions during peak demand periods in the morning and night on Tuesday, with 1.6GW of discharge deployed at 6:15am AEST (6.7 per cent of total energy contribution) and 2.77GW (9.1 per cent of total energy contribution) deployed at 7:05pm AEST.
This followed lower battery discharge on Monday night, reaching a peak of 1.88GW at 7.20pm AEST (6.6 per cent of total energy contribution).
For context, batteries contributed an average of 1.4 per cent to the NEM between 8:30am AEST on February 6 and 8:30am AEST on February 13. Black coal contributed to, on average, 37.6 per cent of demand across this period, with rooftop solar contributing 15 per cent and wind 12.6 per cent.
According to Open Electricity data, Australia has 58 utility-scale BESS either commissioning or in operation, comprising 9.04GW of capacity.
One of the most advanced BESS projects is AGL’s Liddell battery, which is poised for first discharge.
The Liddell battery has been undergoing testing this week before AGL looks to bring it online in the first quarter of this year, with the facility charging and discharging resources on Tuesday and Thursday.
AGL will look to deploy 250MW of Liddell initially, with the entire 500MW set to be operating in the second quarter of 2026.
Located within NSW’s Central West Orana Renewable Energy Zone, Akaysha Energy’s commissioning 415MW Orana BESS has also been actively tested this week as it looks to come online this year.
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