Battery energy storage projects have emerged as the dominant force in Australia’s energy investment landscape, accounting for 46% of the nation’s 64GW development pipeline, according to the Australian Energy Market Operator’s (AEMO) latest quarterly report.

Ahead of the Energy Storage Summit Australia 2026 in March, we take a look at some of the key debates set to take centre stage at the event.  

South Australia’s battery storage fleet entered a 4-hour AU$1,000/MWh (US$700/MWh) price event at around 90% state of charge during the Australia Day heatwave.

The global energy storage market is poised for continued expansion in 2026, even as supply chain constraints, regulatory evolution, and emerging applications reshape the landscape, according to Wood Mackenzie. 

Palmer Renewable Energy has submitted a referral under the EPBC Act for a 200MW solar-plus-storage project near Collie, Western Australia.

Australian mining giant Fortescue has claimed to have secured large-scale battery storage at pricing levels not previously seen in Australia, according to CEO Dino Otranto.

Engie has acquired a 30% equity stake in the Hazelwood battery energy storage system (BESS) in Victoria, Australia.

Sahand Karimi and Henry Swisher of OptiGrid examine the two primary metrics used to evaluate the performance of battery storage trading: normalised revenue and percentage of perfect capture rate.

Covestro and startup Rondo Energy have broken ground on a 100MWh TES system at Covestro’s Brunsbüttel chemical site in Germany.

Global infrastructure investor I Squared Capital has launched ANZA Power, a next-generation independent power producer (IPP) in Australia and New Zealand.