Construction has officially started on the 200MW/400MWh Steel River East battery energy storage system (BESS) in Newcastle, New South Wales, marking the first project delivery for developer PLUS Grid Storage.
PLUS Grid Storage is a separate commercial entity within the Ausgrid Group, responsible for developing, owning, and operating distribution-connected battery storage independently of Ausgrid’s regulated network business, which remains the largest electricity distributor on Australia’s east coast, serving Sydney, Newcastle and the Hunter, and the Central Coast.
The 200MW/400MWh Steel River East project will be built within the Steel River Industrial Estate and will connect to Ausgrid’s existing 132kV Mayfield West zone substation.
It is designed to store excess energy during periods of low demand and dispatch it back to the grid when needed, supporting network reliability as New South Wales integrates higher volumes of variable renewable energy generation.
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The project is expected to reach commercial operation in late 2027, with SCEE Electrical engaged as the delivery partner.
The Steel River East BESS sits within the Hunter and Central Coast Renewable Energy Zone (REZ), a region undergoing a substantial shift in its generation mix as coal-fired power stations retire and are progressively replaced by renewable energy generation and storage infrastructure.
The project was granted approval by the NSW Independent Planning Commission (IPC) in March 2026, following a process that required Commission-level review after attracting more than 50 public objections during assessment.
In its Statement of Reasons for Decision, the IPC found the project would contribute positively to the state’s transition to a lower-carbon energy system, concluding it aligned with policies designed to accelerate renewable energy deployment and improve grid reliability.
Steel River East forms part of a wider platform that received its first outside capital in June 2026, when the NSW Energy Security Corporation (ESC) committed AU$100 million (US$70 million) to a 650MW portfolio of PLUS Grid Storage projects, its first deployment from AU$1 billion in seed funding assigned by the state government.
The investment covers four lithium-ion BESS projects, the first two being the 200MW Steel River East and a matching 200MW system at Homebush in western Sydney, with Ausgrid having flagged a total pipeline of eight BESS developments under the PLUS Grid Storage umbrella.
Steel River East is one of several battery storage projects Ausgrid has advanced through the New South Wales planning system in recent months, alongside its 150MW/300MWh Berkeley Vale BESS, submitted to the federal government’s EPBC Act for environmental assessment.
Part of a wider build-out across the Hunter region
Steel River East’s construction start adds to a concentration of large-scale battery projects moving through the Hunter region and its supporting infrastructure.
The state government approved the Port of Newcastle to safely stage grid-scale lithium-ion battery systems at its Mayfield Multipurpose Terminal in late 2025, a facility that has since received and stored batteries for projects including AGL’s Tomago Battery and Origin Energy’s Eraring BESS, both located in the surrounding area.
The regional build-out also intersects with New South Wales’ broader grid stability planning.
Transmission operator Transgrid, which is separately responsible for system strength across the state, has opened a pathway for 900MW of grid-forming battery storage to help meet minimum system strength requirements, following a 38% cost increase in its planned synchronous condenser programme.
While Steel River East is a distribution-connected asset rather than a transmission-level system strength project, its construction reflects the same underlying pressure driving battery deployment across the state, as ageing coal generation retires and network operators look to storage to help manage the transition.
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