Technology group Wärtsilä has been selected by Origin Energy (Origin) to deliver the third stage of the Eraring battery facility at Origin’s Eraring Power Station in New South Wales, Australia. With this agreement, Wärtsilä will install an additional 700 megawatt hours (MWh) of energy storage capacity directly to the Eraring Stage 1 system. This project continues the successful partnership between Wärtsilä and Origin, bringing the Eraring facility’s total capacity to 700 MW / 2 800 MWh. This makes it the largest battery project in Australia and one of the largest in the world. The order was booked in Q4 2024.

“The scale of this project is impressive, delivering the largest total dispatch duration of an operating battery or project under construction in the Southern Hemisphere. At 2 800 MWh, when cycled once a day, the Eraring battery will dispatch enough energy to power more than 150 000 New South Wales households annually, helping to firm variable supply from wind and solar,” says Greg Jarvis, Head of Energy Supply and Operations at Origin.

The Eraring battery will connect to Australia’s National Electricity Market (NEM), enhancing energy security and reliability in New South Wales as renewable energy supply increases. With this extension, the Eraring 1 facility will double the length of time it can store energy.

“We are honoured by Origin’s continued trust in Wärtsilä. Embarking on stage three of the Eraring battery is a major step forward in transforming the Eraring Power Station and supporting Origin in achieving their goal to exit coal-fired generation. We are excited to continue supporting this project, which now is among the biggest battery energy storage projects either under construction or operational in the world to date. This is a strong testament to our unwavering dedication to enabling a 100% renewable energy future,” says Andrew Tang, Vice President of Energy Storage & Optimisation at Wärtsilä Energy.

A critical aspect of the system is Wärtsilä’s GEMS Digital Energy Platform, which monitors and controls the flow of energy, enabling facilities like Eraring to provide grid support during periods of instability. GEMS will provide firming capacity to balance Origin’s generation portfolio in support of its retail customer load. Stage 3 will be built with Wärtsilä’s fully integrated, modular, and compact Quantum energy storage system that offers low lifecycle costs, fast deployment times, and the highest quality control. Wärtsilä has worked closely with Origin to meet stringent noise requirements for the site, resulting in a site-specific noise solution. Wärtsilä will also provide a long-term service agreement to Origin for the supplied equipment

Stage 1 and 3 will operate in grid-following mode, with the potential to switch operation into grid-forming in the future, providing the capability to supply a variety of system strength and system restart ancillary services. Stage 2 will operate in grid-forming mode at the time of commercial operation.

Origin selected Wärtsilä for Stage 1 of the project in 2023 and Stage 2 earlier in 2024. Completion of Stage 3 is expected alongside Stage 1 at the end of 2025. Stage 2 is expected to come online in the beginning of 2027. Wärtsilä’s energy storage portfolio in Australia now exceeds 3.3 GWh.