If you’re an Australian-focused investor, all signs seemingly point to battery storage as a wise venture.
Utility-scale BESS have been topping the charts for a while now according to data from Rystad Energy, making up 8.4 gigawatts (GW) of a total 19GW National Electricity Market (NEM) project approvals in 2025, trumping wind (6.9GW) and solar (2.6GW) in the process.
For the third year in a row, more BESS projects started construction in the NEM in 2025 than any other renewable energy technology, making up 4.1GW of a total figure north of 5GW.
And with the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) suggesting 40GW of battery storage will be required to meet 2050 targets, a 433 per cent hike on today’s 7.5GW operating battery fleet, there are plenty of reasons why you’d invest in batteries now.
So what does the battery mergers and acquisitions (M&A) landscape look like at this point?
Players are increasingly entering the market, such as Octopus Australia, which recently acquired what it believes to be Australia’s largest planned battery project: the 1.2GW/4.8GWh Hanworth BESS project in NSW.
Octopus Australia chief executive officer Sam Reynolds was quite forthright in his explanation of the transaction.
“While some investors are stepping back, we’re stepping forward,” he said. “Australia still needs new power stations to replace ageing coal plants. The difference is that today we can build them using a mix of solar, wind and batteries instead of smokestacks.
“By owning and operating our projects as one portfolio, we can deliver reliable power every day of the year – not just when the sun shines or the wind blows. This is about replacing coal with clean energy that works in the real world.”
Flow Power joined the party this week by acquiring the Dunedoo energy project (comprising a solar farm and BESS) in NSW, adding to the company’s growing renewable energy portfolio.
Then there’s Canadian company La Caisse, which purchased Australian solar and battery developer Edify Energy in September 2025.
On the flip side, The Australian Financial Review revealed this week US-based Pacific Green Technologies was continuing its Australian retreat, putting its 7GWh BESS portfolio up for sale. This follows Pacific selling its 500MWh Limestone Coast North BESS to Intera Renewables in February last year.
Recurrent Energy has also been divesting, selling its Gunning solar-battery hybrid project in November 2025, following the sale of its Mannum BESS in early 2024.
And there could be a shift coming, with expectations of greater M&A emphasis on hybrid assets.
“We expect that in 2026, renewable projects without integrated batteries may struggle to attract investment (or be the subject of M&A activity), due to growing recognition of batteries’ ability to maximise energy output and mitigate curtailment risk,” Simon Huxley, partner of leading independent law firm Corrs Chambers Westgarth, told Energy.
He said batteries transform conventional solar and wind farms into a “sophisticated trading asset”.
“(This allows) owners to access and ‘stack’ a number of potential market revenue opportunities,” Huxley said, “including tolling arrangements and frequency control ancillary services.”
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