Akaysha Energy has announced the closure of a $650 million debt financing for its Orana Battery Energy Storage System project.
This financing, involving eleven domestic and international banks, marks one of the largest standalone BESS financing globally to date.
The Orana BESS, located near Wellington, NSW within the Central West Orana Renewable Energy Zone (REZ), is set to be one of the largest four-hour batteries globally.
With a capacity of 415 megawatts (MW)/1660 megawatts-hour (MWh), it will significantly boost the National Electricity Market’s (NEM) storage capabilities.
Paul Curnow, Managing Director and Chief Commercial Officer at Akaysha said the virtual toll with EnergyAustralia is the largest virtual toll contracted in the NEM to date.
“This ground-breaking and flexible off-take allows EnergyAustralia to virtually “charge” and “discharge” the 200MW ‘virtual battery’ to manage its price and load commitments to its customers, particularly during high demand periods,” he said.
“This type of off-take product can be scaled in contracted capacity to better accommodate Offtaker demand and was devised by Akaysha’s commercial and energy markets teams to allow off-takers to have the full benefits of a large-scale battery asset, whilst not actually having to build and operate one on their own balance sheet – Akaysha will do this for them.”
EnergyAustralia said the off-take agreement aligns strategically with the Australian customer in mind and ensures the delivery of its energy is both secure and reliable.
Ross Edwards, Trading & Transition Executive at EnergyAustralia said he is excited to announce the energy company’s innovative offtake agreement with Akaysha,
“We are committed to an orderly and responsible energy transition, and we are actively investing in flexible capacity to enable secure, affordable and reliable electricity for our customers,” he said.
“The virtual toll solution, tailored by Akaysha, fits perfectly within our portfolio. Our clear intention is to accelerate the development of renewable projects and help bring forward the investment needed to support Australia’s clean energy transition.”
Construction has already begun on the Orana BESS, which will feature Tesla Megapack technology.
The project is expected to commence commercial operations in 2026, providing crucial energy arbitrage and grid firming capabilities to support the NEM’s expansion of solar and wind projects.
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