As noted on Tuesday last week, I’ve just returned from over a month away (and disconnected from the NEM), and have been striving to catch up.
As noted in that article:
- I noted that the Waratah BESS recently was ‘switched on’ for SIPS, so looked further with ‘Recapping operations at Waratah BESS (including enablement for SIPS) … to August 2025’ ;
- But I also noticed that the Kurri Kurri GT in NSW was also up and running.
So I thought I’d take a quick look this morning, and add in some more context.
(Some of) what’s visible in the AEMO market data?
We’ll look at each unit in turn …
DUID = HUNTER1 … unit 1
The first glimmer out output was captured at the time in this ez2view ‘Notification’ widget alert at 19:MM on Sunday 27th July 2025:
So we take a more detailed look in the ‘Bids & Offers’ widget in ez2view and see that the unit’s been bidding down to –$1,000/MWh during many overnight periods in order to achieve test running periods up close to its Maximum Capacity of 375MW:
DUID = HUNTER2 … unit 2
It’s no surprise to see that Unit 1 has come first, and that there’s not yet been a start of operations (for testing purposes) at Unit 2:
So we’ll keep watch on HUNTER2 starting up…
Key events in its lifetime (to date)
In my quick review of operations at Waratah BESS, I invested a bit of time to pull together a chronological record, in reverse order – and I heard back from some readers to thank me for it.
I don’t have as much time this morning, but thought I would at least start but adding some structure in here below – into which I might (come back later and) add in more, as time permits. Again, it’s reverse chronological order.
| Date, or Date Range | Description of Event |
|---|---|
|
July 2025 |
As noted above, first operations at the HUNTER1 unit (at the Kurri Kurri peaker plant) was spotted on Sunday 27th July 2025. Nine days earlier (on Friday 18th July 2025) there was the update ‘Kurri Kurri Power Station Testing Update’ from Snowy Hydro – which noted: ‘Snowy Hydro’s Kurri Kurri Power Station will recommence testing of the first of its two gas generators on Monday, 21 July 2025. This phase of testing will use gas, which is the generator’s primary fuel and expected to cause substantially less plume and odour than recent diesel testing. We understand recent testing on the back-up diesel fuel generated visible emissions and an odour that caused discomfort and concern. The level of emissions and odour was not expected and was associated with starting up a brand new generator, combined with strong winds. … continues’ Interestingly, whatever testing they speak about beforehand might have generated visible emissions, but it did not result in any (non-zero) data visible in the FinalMW for the unit. Earlier, on Monday 7th July 2025 there was the update ‘Kurri Kurri fires up for the first time’ that starts with: ‘Commissioning of Snowy Hydro’s fourth on-demand gas power station has achieved a significant milestone, with the Hunter Power Project (HPP) team successfully firing up one of the station’s two class-leading gas turbines late last week. Snowy Hydro’s Chief Executive Officer Dennis Barnes said ‘first fire’ is an important milestone, which involves the gas turbine igniting and reaching full speed for the first time. “First fire is a turning point in the power station’s development that confirms the design, construction and cold commissioning of the turbine has been successful,” Mr Barnes said.’
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23rd March 2025 |
It was 23rd March when both units were registered into the AEMO production MMS systems (at which point their capacities became visible). |
|
16th Dec 2024 |
On 16th December 2024, Snowy Hydro issued the News Update ‘Hunter Power Project Update’ that began with ‘Testing and commissioning of Snowy Hydro’s fourth fast-start, on demand gas power station has now begun. This first phase of commissioning involves pressure testing the Hunter Power Project’s (HPP) approximately 23 kilometre network of pipe infrastructure that will deliver gas, diesel and water to the station’s generators. ‘
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3rd Oct 2024 |
On 3rd October 2024, Snowy Hydro issued the News Update ‘Hunter Power project – Planning Modification Amendment’ that noted: ‘Hunter Power Project (HPP) is set to begin operations in December 2024 with one generator running on diesel during the testing and commissioning phase. The second unit and gas introduction will follow shortly, with full operations expected within a few months. While the project’s planning modification has proposed increasing diesel operating hours to 1,100 per unit for 2025, Snowy Hydro does not currently expect HPP to operate entirely on diesel in 2025. The purpose of the modification is to provide for the current anticipated completion of the gas pipeline to March 2025 plus appropriate program contingency to ensure the power station can still generate energy in the event of any further delays to the gas pipeline or to the project’s commissioning program. HPP’s gas pipeline is being delivered by APA Group and is independent of Snowy Hydro’s delivery of the power station. ‘
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August 2024 |
On 27th August 2024, Snowy Hydro issued the News Update ‘Statement; Hunter Power Project Update’ that noted: ‘Development of Snowy Hydro’s fourth fast-start, on-demand gas power station, the Hunter Power Project (HPP), is entering its final phase. … Since the reset of HPP in August 2023, there has been significant construction progress, with completion of all major civil works onsite and installation and alignment of critical turbine and generator parts. … HPP is due to come online in December 2024, with the start of its testing and commissioning phase of one of its two generators on diesel fuel. When operating on diesel each unit is capable of generating 283MW. This is the quickest path to ensuring HPP is available to provide power to the electricity network, which will occur as soon as possible after testing is complete. We will sequence the commissioning of the second unit and the introduction of gas. We expect HPP to be fully operational, with both generators able to operate on both fuels, in the few months following the start of testing. The exact timing of each of the phases during this period will depend on how commissioning of each stage goes. When HPP is in full operation it will operate on gas for the vast majority of the time, with diesel only used as a back-up fuel.‘ Earlier, there was also the news Update ‘Hunter Power Project delivers local jobs and skills’ on 12th August 2024. |
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August 2023 |
The ‘reset of HPP in August 2023’ (noted above in August 2024) was referenced in the News Update ‘Securing the future of critical energy transformation projects’ published on 31st August 2023. At that time: ‘The project delivery remains December 2024. ‘ |
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Intervening period … |
Currently, I’ve not had time to review further back in time… … but feel free to add notes in comments below |
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May 2021 |
Worth noting this media release from Angus Taylor (who was Energy Minister in the Morrison Government at the time) titled ‘Protecting families and businesses from higher energy prices’ that said: ‘In the 2021-22 Budget, the Government committed up to $600 million for Snowy Hydro Limited to construct a 660 MW open cycle gas turbine at Kurri Kurri in the Hunter Valley. The Hunter Power Project will deliver an important economic boost to the region, creating up to 600 new jobs during peak construction and 1,200 indirect jobs across NSW.’
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If readers see I have missed (or misunderstood) significant event(s), please feel free to add comments … and note that I might return later, to add in more details (as a useful future source of linkages about the Waratah BESS
Re. KKGT – there appears scant info on their gas supply – contracted &/or spot, TJ/d?
Nothing on Snowy website, etc – they talk up the lowering of costs…?