Australian energy infrastructure developer Epic Energy’s 100MW/200MWh Mannum battery energy storage system (BESS) in South Australia has entered the commissioning phase.
According to Geoff Eldridge, National Electricity Market (NEM) and energy transition observer at consultancy Global Power Energy, the BESS officially entered the Australian Energy Market Operator’s (AEMO) grid management system this week (13 May).
The BESS will be situated around 90km from the state capital, Adelaide, in the rural town of Mannum, which is widely recognised as the birthplace of Australia’s Murray River paddle steamer vessels.
Mannum BESS, a 2-hour duration system, was acquired from Canadian Solar’s PV and BESS project development subsidiary, Recurrent Energy, in January 2024. AT the time, Epic Energy believed the BESS would require around AU$130 million (US$83 million) in investment to develop fully.
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While it will be a standalone facility, the BESS’ physical location is adjacent to two large-scale solar PV plants that Epic Energy owns and which Recurrent Energy also developed, adding up to 46MWp of generation capacity.
By being registered with AEMO’s Market Management System (MMS), Eldridge said on LinkedIn, this milestone “signals the beginning of testing and commissioning to ensure the system performs reliably under market and network conditions as per the agreed Generator Performance Standard (GPS).”
Epic Energy’s website states that the BESS’s full operation is expected to begin in September 2025.
E-Storage, another Canadian Solar-owned entity, supplied the BESS. Recurrent Energy had selected it when it started developing the site and also tapped the group to provide the integration processes for the battery energy storage equipment. Construction on the site was carried out by Adelaide-based Consolidated Power Projects.
The BESS consists of 80 shipping containers, each approximately 2.4 meters tall, that store the batteries. Epic Energy said the existing roadside vegetation has been preserved, and additional plantings and landscaping have been implemented as part of the project.
UK-headquartered route-to-market (RTM) specialist Habitat Energy said last month that it will optimise Epic Energy’s Mannum BESS. Habitat Energy’s software platform, Evolve, overseen by the company’s traders, will enable bidding in the NEM.
Elsewhere in South Australia, a slightly larger BESS, French independent power producer (IPP) Neoen’s 238.5MW/477MWh Blyth Battery project is nearing commercial operation, having transitioned into the commissioning phase in April 2025.
