Origin refers Eraring BESS North, 500 MW and about 4,942 MWh, for assessment under the EPBC Act

Victoria Shinder07 October 2026, 07:331 min read

Origin Energy has referred a new battery project, Eraring BESS North, for assessment under Australia's Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act, Energy-Storage.news reported on 6 October.

The project. About 500 MW and 4,942 MWh of storage at the Eraring Power Station site in New South Wales. It would be electrically separate from the existing Eraring battery, with its own dedicated connection to Transgrid's network. According to the referral document, the two facilities together would reach a maximum registered output of around 1,200 MW and accessible storage of about 8,600 MWh, subject to detailed design.

The existing Eraring BESS, all stages contracted to Wärtsilä:

• stage 1, 460 MW / 1,770 MWh, in commercial operation since January 2026;
• stage 2, 240 MW / 1,030 MWh, approved in July 2024, with grid-forming inverters operating in virtual synchronous machine mode to provide synthetic inertia and short-circuit current;
• stage 3, contracted in December 2024, adds 700 MWh and converts stage 1 from 2-hour to 4-hour duration.

Once complete, the existing battery would total 700 MW and 2,800 MWh.

For comparison, the article cites Akaysha Energy's 850 MW / 1,680 MWh Waratah Super Battery in New South Wales and Synergy's 500 MW / 2,400 MWh Collie battery in Western Australia, currently the country's largest by energy capacity.