Powin enlists ACE to help manufacture BESS for Waratah Super Battery Australia project

May 18, 2023
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Global battery energy storage system (BESS) integrator Powin has selected South Korea-based ACE Engineering as a contract manufacturer for a portion of its Waratah Super Battery in New South Wales, Australia.

Powin has contracted ACE to manufacture its Centipede grid-scale battery storage platform for half of the Waratah project’s 850MW/1680MWh capacity.

The project will act as a ‘shock absorber’ for the grid when there are disruptions in supply while also helping to integrate more renewable energy into the energy mix, with a targeted completion date in 2025.

The Oregon-headquartered system integrator started work on the BESS project for Blackrock-owned developer Akaysha Power in November last year. Its size has changed, or at least been reported differently, several times since being announced, from 700MW/1,400MWh when first revealed by the New South Wales (NWS) government to 909MW/1,915MWh when Powin started work on it.

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It has been described as the biggest BESS in the world, sometimes specifically the largest ‘single phase’ BESS, alluding to the fact that ultimately larger projects like Moss Landing and Edwards Sanborn, both in California, are coming online in multiple phases.

“Unlike a conventional platform provider, Powin is unique in a way that they are vertically integrated from module packaging to final product which makes them as a leading pioneer in the market. We are excited to collaborate with Powin and leverage our engineering expertise with mass production capability to create ‘Safe, Reliable and Built to Last’ ESS solutions together,“ said Danny You, Chief Executive Officer at ACE.

Indeed, president Anthony Carroll recently told Energy-Storage.news in an interview that he wants Powin to be the “only company that our customers interact with” to make the process as seamless as possible, and had plans to expand into other ancillary parts of BESS project delivery.

Energy-Storage.news’ publisher Solar Media will host the 1st Energy Storage Summit Asia, 11-12 July 2023 in Singapore. The event will help give clarity on this nascent, yet quickly growing market, bringing together a community of credible independent generators, policymakers, banks, funds, off-takers and technology providers. For more information, go to the website.

17 March 2026
Sydney, Australia
As we move into 2026, Australia is seeing real movement in emerging as a global ‘green’ superpower, with energy storage at the heart of this. This Summit will explore in-depth the ‘exponential growth of a unique market’, providing a meeting place for investors and developers’ appetite to do business. The second edition will shine a greater spotlight on behind-the-meter developments, with the distribution network being responsible for a large capacity of total energy storage in Australia. Understanding connection issues, the urgency of transitioning to net zero, optimal financial structures, and the industry developments in 2026 and beyond.

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