BlackRock-backed Akaysha locks-in battery finance deal with global commodity giant Gunvor Group

The world’s largest independent commodities trading house has for the first time struck a deal to take energy from an Australian battery project.

Developer Akaysha Energy has been given approval to build the 500MW storage centre at Ellesmere, 30km south of Kingaroy and Nanango on 145ha of land at Oaky Creek Back Rd.

The renewable energy developer Akaysha Energy has agreed an offtake deal with global commodities trading company Gunvor Group for a battery in Queensland.

The deal is the first time that the world’s largest independent commodities trading house has entered into such a battery deal in Australia and illustrates the maturation of the asset class.

Offtake deals are common but they have traditionally been desired by end users such as EnergyAustralia – which want to secure generation capacity to meet customer obligations.

Developers enter into so-called offtake agreements, which sees them sell a portion of the capacity of the asset, to lock in revenue security and realise capital that they can then use for new developments.

But Gunvor Group, based in Switzerland, does not have such a presence. Instead they are a major player in global power markets and by entering into the offtake deal with Akaysha, it will be able to increase its presence in the trading of Australia’s wholesale electricity contracts.

Akaysha battery energy storage system.

Akaysha managing director Paul Curnow said the deal underscores the rapid development of the industry.

“The fact that you have a large global trading commodity house doing one of its first and largest battery offtake deals anywhere in the world is a good indicator of the maturation of the wholesale market,” Mr Curnow told The Australian.

Located north of Brisbane, the Brendale BESS will have a capacity of 205 MW/410 MWh, making it capable of charging from excess solar generation and storing enough energy to power up to 200,000 homes for up to 2 hours. The project’s Grid Forming capability will increase the robustness of the network voltage in the nearby major Queensland transmission infrastructure.

The deal could also be expanded to include future batteries in Australia, which will be converted by domestic authorities.

Australia ‘s federal Labor government has set the ambitious target of having renewables generate 82 per cent of the country’s electricity by 2030 but while generation is increasing - large swathes are often curtailed as supply can often exceed demand.

Batteries offer a solution, allowing for renewable energy to be stored when it not needed and released when it is - typically after the sun begins to set in the later afternoon, early evening peak periods.

Increased demand from the likes of Gunvor could allow developers such as BlackRockAkaysha to accelerate the development of new batteries.