US investment giant BlackRock plans to invest at least $1 billion in major battery projects in Australia after agreeing to buy Melbourne-based Akaysha Energy and its portfolio of at least nine grid projects country’s main
This is the first investment in battery storage made by BlackRock’s Climate Infrastructure business in the Asia-Pacific region and the largest in the world. The entry of deep-pocketed BlackRock is likely to change the dynamics of Australia’s growing battery storage market.
The most advanced project in Akaysha’s portfolio is the 150MW, 300MWh Ulinda Park battery next to the Kogan Creek coal-fired generator in Queensland’s Western Downs region which it is jointly developing, along with two other batteries in Queensland, with Renewable Energy Partners.
But its biggest project is the massive 1600MWh Orana battery near Wellington in central west NSW, which could have up to eight hours of storage and will seek a role in the Orana Renewable Energy Zone Central West of the State Govt.
His other projects include a large battery at Palmerston substation near Launceston in Tasmania, which would use advanced inverters and act as a “virtual synchronous machine”, and would also be the island state’s first large battery.
The other projects in the portfolio have not yet been publicly disclosed.
BlackRock says many gigawatts of battery storage will be needed to meet the federal government’s 82 percent renewable energy goal by 2030 and to fill the gap created by the retirement of coal-fired generators.
Australia’s main grid currently has only 10 large-scale batteries in operation, with a dozen or so under construction or nearing completion, although the portfolio of planned and potential projects is already in the tens of gigawatts and growing rapidly.
Charlie Reid, BlackRock’s co-head of climate infrastructure in the Asia-Pacific, says it is also looking at Asian markets, where it sees a $400 billion opportunity, and the company has already committed $1 billion to Australia .
“As renewable energy infrastructure continues to mature in Australia, investment in battery storage assets is needed to ensure grid resilience and reliability, particularly with the continued earlier than expected retirement of power stations in coal,” Reid said in a statement.
“For our customers, we see tremendous long-term growth potential in the development of advanced battery storage assets in Australia and other Asia-Pacific markets and look forward to working with Akaysha to ensure an orderly transition to a cleaner and safer energy future.”
Akaysha was only established in 2021 by former Tesla, Macquarie and Engie executives, and says it also has plans to jointly develop renewable and green hydrogen assets alongside battery storage projects.
“The Asia Pacific region is at the dawn of its energy transition from carbon-emitting fossil fuels to intermittent renewable resources and we believe a successful shift to a more sustainable energy future depends on the use of battery storage on a grand scale,” said Akaysha. director Nick Carter.
“By leveraging BlackRock’s global capabilities and track record in climate infrastructure, we are excited to deliver on our ambitions to accelerate the deployment of utility-scale energy storage technologies that will mitigate generation variability renewable and will offer grid reliability and resilience to the electrical system.”.
To read more about RenewEconomy’s interview with BlackRock’s Charlie Reid, click here. Why BlackRock chose Australia to play its biggest drum
See Australia’s RenewEconomy battery storage map
Giles Parkinson is founder and editor of Renew Economy, and is also the founder of One Step Off The Grid and founder/editor of EV-focused The Driven. Giles has been a journalist for 40 years and is a former business and deputy editor of the Australian Financial Review.