Australian infrastructure contractor GenusPlus Group has been awarded an AU$110 million (US$78.5 million) engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning contract for the 200MW/800MWh Koolunga battery energy storage system (BESS) in South Australia.
The turnkey contract covers Balance of Plant works and battery installation for the project, which is owned by Asia-Pacific infrastructure investor Equis Development. Works are scheduled to commence shortly, with completion targeted for September 2027.
The Koolunga BESS will be located approximately 6km southeast of the small town of Koolunga in the Mid North region of South Australia, an area of the state known for several different industries, including wine production, copper mining and agriculture.
The battery storage system will connect to the state’s electricity grid and the wider National Electricity Market (NEM) via approximately 1.2km of high-voltage cable linking to the 275kV Brinkworth Substation. All planning and environmental approvals, along with community impact assessments, have been completed.
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GenusPlus managing director David Riches said the contract represents a milestone for the company.
“This contract gives us great confidence that the market sees our capability and capacity to deliver a project of this size and complexity,” Riches said.
“We look forward to working closely with Equis to deliver the project safely, successfully and on time.”
The Koolunga project marks GenusPlus’s second collaboration with Equis, following the contractor’s involvement in the 600MW/1,600GWh Melbourne Renewable Energy Hub in Victoria, which commenced commercial operations in December 2025.
That project, co-owned by Equis and Victoria’s State Electricity Commission (SEC) features 444 Tesla Megapack units.
South Australia’s expanding storage pipeline
The Koolunga BESS was selected under Tender 3 of the federal government’s Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS), announced in September 2025.
The tender, focused exclusively on battery storage assets, awarded 16 projects nationwide, totalling 15.37GWh. The Reeves Plains BESS was the only other South Australian project selected in that round, another battery storage system that GenusPlus is delivering.
Construction is already underway on the 250MW/1,000MWh first stage of Alinta Energy’s Reeves Plains battery storage project, located approximately 50km north of Adelaide.
That project features 194 CATL battery modules and 89 Power Electronics inverters, with completion expected by 2028. Alinta plans a second 250MW/1,000MWh BESS at the same site as part of its broader Reeves Plains Energy Hub.
South Australia has emerged as a testing ground for large-scale battery storage deployment, as the state manages one of the world’s highest levels of renewable energy penetration.
In 2024, renewables supplied 100% of South Australia’s electricity demand for a third of the year, creating corresponding requirements for grid stability services and firming capacity.
The Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) has forecast that South Australia will begin experiencing reliability gaps from 2026-27.
Envision Energy’s global technical lead, Behzad Naderi, highlighted the strength of South Australia’s renewable energy and storage market in a recent interview with ESN Premium, whilst also emphasising the potential of hybrid solar-plus-storage projects in Australia.
“If we look at the NEM, we have a situation in South Australia where we have more than 70% or 80% [renewables] for a couple of hours, which means there are fewer synchronous generating units,” Naderi told ESN Premium.
GenusPlus has been expanding its presence in Australia’s battery storage sector. In June 2025, the company secured a AU$65 million contract from Atmos Renewables for the design and construction of the 100MW/400MWh Merredin BESS in Western Australia, along with associated substation works.
That project was among 654MW/2,595MWh of battery storage awarded in Western Australia’s first CIS tender in March 2025, with all projects expected to be operational by October 2027.
The ASX-listed company reported record first-half fiscal 2026 results in February, with revenue increasing 61% to AU$535.4 million and statutory net profit after tax up 82% to AU$24.9 million. GenusPlus shares have risen approximately 40% in 2026.
Interested in Australia? Read Energy-Storage.news’ Energy Storage Summit Australia coverage and related content.
