Origin Energy’s First Stage of 700 MW/3,160 MWh Eraring BESS Commences Commercial Operations

Origin Energy, together with contractor partners including Wärtsilä, Enerven, Jacobs, Lumea and Transgrid, has successfully commissioned and begun commercial operations of the first stage of the 700 MW/3,160 MWh Eraring Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) at its Eraring Power Station site in New South Wales, Central Coast, Australia.

This follows shortly after Origin announced an AUD 80 million (USD 53.87 million) investment to deliver the fourth stage of the battery project at the site of its 2,880 MW coal-fired Eraring power station, approximately 130 km north of Sydney. The ageing plant, which currently supplies around 18% of New South Wales’ electricity demand, is due to retire in August 2027, although closure may be delayed until 2029. Once all four stages are complete, the Eraring battery will have a combined capacity of 700 MW/3,160 MWh, offering an average storage duration of about 4.5 hours. Battery systems for the fourth stage of the Eraring project will be supplied by Finnish technology company Wärtsilä, while design and construction will be undertaken by South Australia–based contractor Enerven.

All four stages of the Eraring BESS are now either under construction or in commissioning. Once fully completed, the combined capacity across all stages will reach 700 MW / 3,160 MWh, establishing Eraring as the largest battery project in the southern hemisphere. Stages one and three each provide 460 MW of capacity with a four-hour dispatch duration and are scheduled to enter service in early 2026. Stages two and four are expected to come online in Q1 of 2027. The recent addition of 360 MWh in stage four to the 240 MW stage two battery extends the overall dispatch duration to 5.8 hours, enhancing Origin’s ability to support grid stability and accommodate increasing volumes of variable renewable generation.