NSW approves ACEnergy’s 250-MW/1,100-MWh battery, adds strict conditions

• New South Wales’ IPC cleared ACEnergy’s up-to-250-MW/1,100-MWh battery with conditions on safety, noise, biodiversity and grid integration to ensure community and system benefits

New South Wales has given conditional approval to ACEnergy’s up-to-250-MW/1,100-MWh battery project, adding a sizable slice of fast, flexible capacity to a state grid increasingly shaped by solar at noon and tight margins after sunset. The Independent Planning Commission’s green light comes with detailed conditions, reflecting a maturing planning regime for large battery energy storage systems (BESS).

On engineering, the project will employ containerized lithium-ion units with sectionalized fire-safety design, off-gas detection, and automated suppression. Grid-forming inverters will enable synthetic inertia, fast frequency response, and voltage control aligned with the National Electricity Market’s evolving performance standards. A unified SCADA and energy-management system will coordinate charge/discharge and grid-support modes, while cyber and telemetry requirements ensure secure, near-real-time communications with network operators.

The conditions matter. Expect mandated acoustic limits with compliance monitoring, landscaped setbacks and visual screening, traffic and construction-hours controls, and biodiversity measures such as habitat buffers and species-rich groundcover. An emergency management plan—developed with local fire services—will govern thermal events and drills. Decommissioning bonds ensure end-of-life site restoration, providing confidence to councils and landowners.

Operationally, a 1,100-MWh, multi-hour duration battery can shift daytime solar into evening peaks, reduce spill on bright days, and dampen price spikes after sunset. It also supplies fast reserves during contingencies, cutting reliance on gas peakers and improving system resilience during heatwaves. Co-optimizing energy arbitrage with ancillary products diversifies revenue, a feature lenders look for in merchant-exposed markets.

Community benefits extend beyond electrons: construction jobs, local procurement, and long-term rates income. ACEnergy’s stakeholder plan will need transparent reporting—peak reductions, outage minutes saved, noise compliance—to sustain social licence.

Next steps include final design sign-off, procurement of long-lead transformers and switchgear, and phased commissioning that brings individual blocks online as installation progresses. With conditions met, NSW gains a precision tool for the net-load “duck curve,” translating abundant solar into dependable evening power.