As noted on Tuesday this 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, one of the things I noticed was that Waratah BESS recently was ‘switched on’ in relation to the System Integrity Protection System (SIPS) services it’s been contracted to provide:
- Which will enable some support for the grid, to enable more VRE generation
- But (again, coming back up to speed) I think*
- only under ‘System Normal’ conditions (i.e. no network outages)
- and only for Thermal constraints (i.e. there might be some limitations on its usefulness in cases such as transient stability risks etc)
* if I am incorrect here, can some readers please point this out in comments below?
So (trying to kill a few birds with one stone – including getting me back up to speed) I thought it would be useful to piece together this article for some Friday afternoon reading…
A trend over time
Powering back up with the ez2view ‘Trends Engine**’ I have prepared the following high level overview of some daily stats with respect to the WTAHB1 unit in the AEMO MMS database.
** noting new release on this imminent, including enhancements based on customer requests and feedback etc.
Remember that
- (post IESS) the charging side of any battery (now a BDU) is shown as negative numbers.
- to click on the image for a full screen view
Key events in its lifetime (to date)
In reverse chronological order, I’ve tabulated a few key dates and events in its limited life to date (there are other things that I might come back and add in later):
| Date, or Date Range | Description of Event |
|---|---|
|
August 2025 |
Worth readers noting two (other) things with respect to the month of August (in addition to the below): Additional Observation #1) We see in the chart above that:
Additional Observation #2) It’s worth noting (with respect to the note below about May 2024) that 19th August 2025 was the date at which Eraring Power Station had earlier been slated to close.
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Fri 1st August 2025 |
A week ago (on Friday 1st August at 18:30) the AEMO communicated by MN128419 that: ‘——————————————————————- From : AEMO ——————————————————————- Notice ID : 128419 ——————————————————————- Reason : AEMO ELECTRICITY MARKET NOTICE. The Waratah Super Battery System Integrity Protection Scheme (SIPS) has been enabled by TransGrid at 1758 hrs 01/08/2025. Manager NEM Real Time Operations ——————————————————————- So that’s big (and welcome) news! This was flagged in various official locations, including: 1) On 5th August Akaysha Energy wrote ‘The Waratah Super Battery is online’; and 2) On 5th August EnergyCo wrote ‘Waratah Super Battery Project begins partial operation as shock absorber for NSW grid’. 3) On 5th August TransGrid wrote ‘Transgrid specialists deliver Australian-first control system to support Waratah Super Battery Project’. It was also picked up in the media, including the following: 1) On 4th August on RenewEconomy, Giles Parkinson wrote ‘Australia’s most powerful battery is now officially operating as the grid’s biggest shock absorber’. 2) On 5th August via the ABC, Sarah Forster wrote ‘Waratah Super Battery connected to NSW power grid and switched on’. 3) Of course, I noted it here at the start of this week. … and elsewhere |
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June 2025 |
It had been rumoured ahead of time in various media articles, but worth noting the Powin (the manufacturer/supplier of the battery in the US) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June 2025. This was flagged in various locations, including: 1) On 11th June in Energy Storage, Andy Colthorpe wrote ‘Powin files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and spins off project services business’; … and elsewhere … |
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about the delays, in early 2025 |
With respect to delays in project delivery, it did remind me of Dan Lee’s earlier article ‘Need for speed: How long has each battery project in the NEM taken to deliver?’:
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28th March 2025 |
TransGrid submitted to AER a letter ‘Waratah Super Battery (WSB) 2025 Adjustment Proposal – Delay in achieving Commercial Operation‘, which begins: ‘We are writing to advise the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) that a ‘Delay in achieving Commercial Operation’ event for the WSB contestable System Integrity Protection Scheme (SIPS) services occurred on [REDACTED], when Akaysha Energy first informed Transgrid of a delay. The project schedule has been revised multiple times since then. We are therefore submitting this 2025 Adjustment Proposal for WSB SIPS services.’ The letter is worth reading. It includes the passage: ‘We consider this event to have been triggered because the project schedule prepared by Akaysha Energy (dated 4 March 2025) indicates: This was published by the AER as part of their Annual Adjustment. |
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27th Nov 2024 |
Thinking back now, the end of November and early December 2024 was both:
The (still very much in commissioning) Waratah BESS saw some action during this period, and received some attention as a result. For instance, Dan Lee had written at the time that ‘Waratah BESS also directed to maintain state of charge on Wednesday afternoon, 27th Nov 2024’. Elsewhere, others had been a bit more exuberant about the performance of this and other batteries (even in terms of them ‘saving the day’) so it’s useful to reflect on the article by Dan Lee the next day noting ‘NSW seemingly squeaked through yesterday: Was it even that hot? Did batteries save the day?’. |
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Sept 2024 |
It was early September 2024 when the battery was registered within the AEMO’s MMS systems, as we can see from the It was later in September 2024 when we saw the first small slices of discharge. We saw progress for the month noted: 1) On 9th September in Power Technology, Claire Jenns wrote ‘Waratah Super Battery completes energisation first stage, boosts Australia’s BESS sector’. … and elsewhere |
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May 2024 |
Many readers will recall that it was on Thursday 23rd May 2024 that the announcement was made that ‘Eraring Power Station closure delayed by 2 years (or maybe 4?)’. I’ve included this here because amongst the (many other!) reasons for the extension being required were considerations about the timing of full commercial operations of the Waratah BESS. ———— However it’s (belatedly) useful to link in here the article ‘350MVA 330/33/33kV Power Transformer for Waratah Super Battery Project’ from Wilson Transformers on 4th May 2024: (a) And copy the full text in here: On Saturday, the last of the three 350MVA 330/33/33kV power transformers started its epic journey out of Melbourne to its final destination in NSW, at the site of the former Munmorah coal-fired power station, in a complex 9-day operation. With a transport mass of 170 tonnes and being carried by a 477-tonne superload, the transformer makes for an unforgettable sight. Transporting a transformer of such size is quite challenging. It requires thorough planning and preparation before the move, including obtaining special permits, planning a route for transportation, considering critical existing infrastructure for the passage of the oversize vehicle, and raising awareness among road users. The complex transportation to site was completed using beam-set and multi axle trailer configuration which required detailed planning and execution by WTC and its subcontractor, ODLS. The project is being developed by Akaysha Energy. WTC is supplying 3 x 350MVA 330/33/33kV and 145 x 7.3MVA 33/0.77/0.77kV transformers (all made in Australia) to Consolidated Power Projects (CPP) and Akaysha Energy for the project. Our transformers will play an essential role in ensuring the correct voltage levels between different parts of the system and the electrical grid and will be used to charge and discharge energy to/from the battery. The Waratah Super Battery, at 850 MW / 1680 MWh will likely be the world’s most powerful battery when connected to the grid. Click HERE to watch a quick recap of the project. (b) Because it turns out to be useful in conjunction with the news about the failure of 1 of 3 (or possibly 2 of 3) transformers in October 2025. |
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14th Dec 2022 |
As noted here on the AER website: ‘On 17 October 2022, Transgrid submitted a revenue proposal to the AER for the System Integrity Protection Scheme SIPS (battery) Service component of the WSB project, seeking to recover the cost of payments it will make to the battery service provider. In December 2022 we made a determination setting out the amounts that Transgrid is to be paid. .’ |
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14th Oct 2022 |
As noted here on the AER website: ‘On 14 October 2022, the NSW Minister for Energy directed Transgrid as the Network Operator to carry out the Waratah Super Battery (WSB) project, which is classified as a Priority Transmission Infrastructure Project under the EII framework.’ I’ve included this quote here:
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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).
Just on Waratah’s maximum discharge to date Paul, where you mention that it doesn’t include any Raise FCAS enablement volume – the battery isn’t yet registered to deliver FCAS, I guess that will come later in its commissioning programme.