AEMO Services Limited (ASL), a subsidiary of the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), has awarded long-term energy service agreements to six battery energy storage system (BESS) projects in New South Wales through Tender Round 6. All six projects are based on lithium-ion battery technology, with nominal storage durations ranging from 8.7 hours to 11.5 hours. The selected projects together account for 1,170 MW of capacity and 11.98 GWh of storage.
The successful projects include the 100 MW/870 MWh Ebor BESS by Bridge Energy, the 250 MW/2,414 MWh Bowmans Creek BESS by Ark Energy, the 158 MW/1,440 MWh Armidale East BESS by FRV Services Australia, the 233 MW/2,676 MWh Bannaby BESS by BW ESS Australia, the 100 MW/1,080 MWh Kingswood BESS by Iberdrola Australia, and the 330 MW/3,500 MWh Great Western battery by Neoen Australia. Collectively, these six BESS projects represent around 9 per cent of New South Wales’ peak electricity demand.
In October 2025, Australia announced the results of Tender 4 under the Capacity Investment Scheme, which aims to support the national renewable energy target of 82 per cent. A total of 20 projects were selected with a cumulative capacity of 6.6 GW, exceeding the initial plan of 6 GW. Of these, 12 hybrid projects integrating wind or solar generation with BESS will contribute over 3,500 MW/11,400 MWh to the grid.
REGlobal’s Views: Australia has been ramping its energy storage capacity along with renewables to support grid reliability and growing power demand. This is especially critical as ageing coal power stations retire. Auctions are planned to be conducted regularly from 2024-2027 to drive more investments in the country’s growing renewable energy sector. Moreover, the country has increased the Capacity Investment Scheme target to 26 GW for renewables generation and to 14 GW for clean dispatchable capacity.