Ausconnex has begun construction on the first of eight community battery energy storage systems (BESS) planned across Greater Western Sydney, Australia, part of a privately funded programme worth more than AU$65 million (US$42.3 million).
Ausconnex is part of the Endeavour Energy Group, the distribution network operator serving Greater Western Sydney, the Blue Mountains, the Illawarra and the Southern Highlands.
The first site, at Penrith, entered construction following a sod-turning ceremony attended by NSW Minister for Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Heritage Penny Sharpe and Member for Penrith Karen McKeown.
The Penrith medium-voltage BESS will provide just under 5MW of power output and 17MWh of storage.
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Once complete, the eight sites, located at Penrith, South Marsden Park, Seven Hills, Emu Plains, Maldon, North Leppington, Cawdor and Cranebrook, will together deliver around 40MW of power output and 136MWh of storage. All sites are expected to be completed by 2029, subject to planning approvals.
Endeavour Energy Group chief executive Danny Cooper said the battery storage systems are being delivered in some of the fastest-growing communities in Australia, where population growth, new housing and increasing electrification are driving demand.
“Battery energy storage systems will make better use of renewable energy, provide greater flexibility across the energy system and support the region’s growth for decades to come,” Cooper said.
Part of a fast-expanding national fleet of community batteries
Ausconnex’s portfolio adds to a community battery sector that has grown steadily across Australia’s states and territories, each pursuing different ownership and deployment models.
In the ACT, the territory government completed its first community battery network with the addition of a 450kWh system, while new community batteries have also launched in Queensland and Victoria under separate state-based programmes.
In Western Australia, Western Power began construction of 18 new community batteries across Perth and Bunbury in June 2026, as part of an AU$25 million programme, partly funded through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency’s (ARENA’s) Community Battery programme.
That project will more than double Western Power’s existing fleet of 13 community battery storage systems deployed across the South West Interconnected System, following an earlier tranche of five systems commissioned in August 2025.
Western Australia’s utility-led model contrasts with the more fragmented approach in eastern states, where not-for-profits, councils and distribution businesses have each deployed batteries independently.
Nationally, the Australian Energy Regulator confirmed in early 2026 that 244 community battery storage systems were connected to Australia’s distribution networks, with distribution network service providers owning 189 of those installations across 14 networks.
Queensland led deployment through Energex’s 53 installations and Ergon Energy’s 13 units, while New South Wales followed with Endeavour Energy operating 54 systems and Ausgrid maintaining 22, a concentration the AER attributed to higher renewable energy penetration and network congestion challenges in the eastern states.
Community batteries of this kind are typically designed to store surplus solar generation during the day for release during the evening peak, offering renters, apartment dwellers, and other households without rooftop solar a means to access the financial benefits of distributed storage.
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