Origin to build $600m battery at Eraring in time for coal shutdown

Construction of a $600m battery at Eraring comes as debate swirls about whether the coal-fired power station should be kept open beyond 2025.

Battery equipment for Origin Energy's Eraring power station will be supplied by Finnish technology group Wärtsilä. Picture: Supplied

Origin Energy will build a $600m, 460 megawatt battery at Eraring that’s capable of powering 60,000 homes for two hours, as debate continues about whether the NSW government should intervene to keep the coal-fired power station at the site operating after 2025.

The power company said it had taken a final investment decision on the first phase of the large-scale battery, which is expected to come online in the last quarter of the 2025 calendar year.

Origin also has the option to increase the battery’s capacity to 700MW and four hours dispatch duration, compared with the 2800MW capacity of the coal plant.

A spokesman for the company said the battery would support the energy market in a number of ways beyond simply supplying electricity. “The battery is typically charged in the middle of the day when renewable supply is plentiful, and can be discharged to support the market during per­iods of peak demand such as the evening peak,’’ the spokesman said.

“Batteries also provide grid stability services such as frequency control ancillary services, system restart ancillary services, as well as fast-start frequency response and synthetic inertia.

“These services are important to help stabilise the electricity system as large generators are retiring from the system.’’

Origin chief executive Frank Calabria said it was a key next step to transforming the site for the future. Picture: Britta Campion

The Eraring coal-fired power station, which provides about 25 per cent of NSW’s power needs and is scheduled to shut down in August 2025, has been the subject of debate in recent days, with some industry experts calling for it to be kept operating.

NSW Premier Chris Minns has acknowledged that the government might have to buy back Eraring, saying taxpayers had been “fleeced” by its sale. An alternative being privately discussed by senior Labor figures involves offering financial assistance to Origin if market conditions dip below an agreed point.

With AGL Energy’s Liddell power station to be taken offline on April 28, and delays to Snowy Hydro and the Kurri Kurri gas plant creating concerns about energy reliability, industry figures including the Grattan Institute’s Tony Wood have said the new NSW government should look at how Eraring can continue operating as a “back-up option’’.

“You don’t have to commit absolutely to keeping it open, but you want the flexibility to make sure if things go worse than they might, you have the option to keep it open,” Mr Wood told News Corp Australia recently.

“There’s a circumstance in which closing Eraring in 2025-26 is a real problem and circumstances where it won’t be a ­problem.”

An artist’s impression of the $600m battery installation.

Origin chief executive Frank Calabria on Tuesday said the announcement of the battery project, which received initial planning approval in May 2022, was a significant milestone for the company.

“We are pleased to make this significant capital investment in Origin’s first major battery project to support the growth in renewable energy that’s occurring across the National Electricity Market, together with the expansion of our own portfolio of renewable energy developments,’’ Mr Calabria said.

The battery equipment will be supplied by Finnish technology group Wartsila, while design and construction services will be provided by Enerven, a subsidiary of SA Power Networks.

The Australian Energy Market Operator said recently it was confident about the power supply outlook through to 2025.

NSW Energy Minister Penny Sharpe said last week she expected no “immediate impact” from the decision to switch off the Liddell power station.

AGL also forecasts no “reliability” problems.

“The market operator has not approached AGL with concerns about reliability following the closure of Liddell and their latest report identifies that risks remain within their reliability measure,” an AGL spokesman said.