BlackRock raises $500m for NSW super battery to cushion impact of Eraring closing

The development of the huge battery comes as Australia falls increasingly behind in developing storage to back up renewable energy.

BlackRock has raised more than $500m from Australian and global institutional and sovereign investors to accelerate the development of the Waratah Super Battery – the centrepiece of NSW’s plans to replace Origin Energy’s Eraring coal power station.

The funding milestone comes as Australia’s energy industry grows increasingly concerned about the impact of Eraring closing in 2025, stoking calls for the state government to seek a deal with Origin to prolong the fossil fuel power station that generates about 25 per cent of NSW’s energy needs.

The NSW state government has vowed to ensure sufficient stability. Origin is pressing ahead with its plans with a $600m 460MW battery at Eraring, but has said it would work with the government to ensure a smooth transition.

Batteries are shaping as one of the biggest missing pieces in Australia’s energy network.

While there has been an increase in renewable energy generation assets such as onshore wind and solar, Australia is well behind in developing sources of power to back up the grid.

Charlie Reid, co-head of climate infrastructure at BlackRock described the Waratah Super Battery as a landmark deal.

“We firmly believe battery storage is the critical technology of today – applied both on a small scale in homes and for large-scale battery platforms like the Waratah Super Battery,” said Mr Reid.

The Waratah Super Battery will have an active power capacity of 850 megawatts and guaranteed usable energy storage capacity of at least 1680 megawatt hours, larger than initially planned and nearly three times the largest battery operating in Australia to date.

But most of the time, the Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) will remain in standby mode as a “virtual transmission line”, ready to respond when the power system experiences a shock, such as a lightning strike or bushfire.

When this happens, the control system operated by Transgrid will automatically trigger paired generators in regional NSW to temporarily reduce their output, allowing the BESS to discharge while keeping the power system stable.