BlackRock-backed developer Akaysha Energy has announced that its 1,660MWh Orana battery energy storage system (BESS) has reached commercial operations in New South Wales, Australia.
This brings the developer’s total operational storage capacity to more than 4GWh across its Australian portfolio.
The Orana BESS, located 2km north-east of Wellington in the Central-West Orana renewable energy zone (REZ) in New South Wales, is sized at 415MW/1,660MWh across 448 Tesla Megapacks, delivering 4-hours of duration at full output.
The facility connects to the grid via approximately 350 metres of 330kV high-voltage cable to TransGrid’s existing Wellington substation, taking advantage of existing transmission infrastructure in a zone forecast to host 3,000MW of new wind and solar generation.
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Balance of plant (BOP) was delivered by Consolidated Power Projects Australia, with Australian-manufactured transformers supplied by Tyree Transformers and Wilson Transformer Company.
Tony Fullelove, managing director of development and delivery at Akaysha Energy, said the project supports firming capacity as New South Wales absorbs more renewable energy generation.
“The Orana BESS is set to play a major role in supporting firming capacity and grid reliability, allowing more renewable energy to be integrated into the NSW electricity system,” Fullelove said.
“The virtual tolling agreement for the Orana BESS gives EnergyAustralia access to the market benefits of large-scale battery storage, including fast-response capacity and greater flexibility.”
The commercial structure underpinning Orana combines contracted capacity with participation in the merchant market.
EnergyAustralia secured 200MW of the system’s output under a 12-year virtual tolling agreement, signed two years ago, which enables EnergyAustralia to notionally charge and discharge a 200MW virtual battery within pre-agreed bidding parameters, independent of Akaysha’s physical operation of the asset.
Daniel Nugent, trading and transition executive at EnergyAustralia, said the structure delivers storage capability without requiring the retailer to own or operate infrastructure.
“Our virtual tolling agreement with Akaysha gives us access to a large-scale battery’s firming capability and the ability to soak up renewable energy that would otherwise be wasted, without owning or operating the asset ourselves,” Nugent said.
As part of a portfolio mix, it’s a model that helps get batteries financed and built and gets more storage into the market sooner.”
The project also holds a Long-Term Energy Service Agreement (LTESA) awarded under NSW Roadmap Tender Round 2 in November 2023, which was also a pilot for the Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS) tender.
The LTESA provides access to minimum cash flows over a long contract term, reducing price uncertainty for investors and bringing forward investment in large-scale storage assets.
Akaysha’s expanding Australian footprint
Commercial operations starting at the Orana BESS are the latest in a sequence of project deliveries that have consolidated Akaysha’s position as one of the most prominent developers in Australia’s energy storage sector.
In terms of storage capacity, Orana was the third-largest battery storage system in the NEM at the time of commissioning, behind Origin’s 1,770MWh Eraring Battery 1 and Akaysha’s own 1,680MWh Waratah Super Battery, which has been working toward full operational status following a catastrophic transformer failure in late 2025.
The Orana project was financed through a AU$650 million (~US$440.58 million at that time) debt facility, closed in July 2024, with a syndicate of 11 domestic and international banks, including ANZ, CBA, Westpac, BNP Paribas, the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and Siemens Financial Services through Siemens Bank.
At the time, the deal was described as the “largest standalone BESS project financing globally.” The AU$650 million raise closed alongside the EnergyAustralia virtual tolling agreement, which was similarly described as the largest virtual toll contracted in the NEM to date.
Orana’s COD follows the commissioning of Akaysha’s 205MW/410MWh Brendale BESS in Queensland earlier in 2026, which reached full output five months ahead of schedule and features grid-forming inverters for rapid frequency response and ancillary services.
With Orana now operational, Akaysha’s portfolio stands at more than 4GWh in operations, 1.2GWh under construction and approximately 40GWh in development globally across Australia, the US, Germany and Japan.
The BlackRock-backed developer has been weighing funding options to support its battery storage expansion across Australia.
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