Energy Vault and ACEN Australia Strike Deal for 400 MWh Battery Energy Storage Installations

Energy Vault Holdings, Inc. and ACEN Australia have finalized agreements for two 400 MWh battery energy storage system deployments in Australia. Construction starts in late 2024 for commercial operations in 2025 and 2026.

Energy Vault will install a 50 MW/100 MWh BESS and a 150 MW/300 MWh BESS at ACEN Australia’s 720 MW New England Solar site, a major participant in Australia’s National Electricity Market (NEM). These systems will charge and discharge daily, supplying renewable energy during peak hours to alleviate New South Wales’ coal dependency. Supported by the NSW Government’s Emerging Energy Program, the New England BESS project is a component of ACEN’s 1 GW project development strategy in Australia.

ACEN Australia’s New England Solar, situated near Uralla, reached Stage 1 completion in 2023, with 400MW of solar capacity officially operational. Stage 2’s conclusion will result in an annual renewable electricity output of 1,800 GWh. In 2023, ACEN Australia secured a 20-year Long Term Energy Service Agreement (LTESA) for New England Solar in the NSW Government’s inaugural renewable energy and storage auction. The LTESA serves as a risk management tool, safeguarding the project in case of prolonged low prices in the National Electricity Market.

“ACEN Australia’s New England Solar is a critical source of renewable energy for the NSW region, and we are proud to play a role in ensuring its ability to reliably provide the region with clean power in the most efficient and cost-effective manner possible,” said Robert Piconi, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Energy Vault. “These deployments, and the tight timelines under which they will be delivered, stand as a testament to Energy Vault’s commitment to a customer-centric approach to energy storage as well as evidence of the growing global demand for reliable and effective energy storage solutions. We see today’s agreement as just the first step in a long and fruitful relationship with ACEN and their renewable power generation projects moving forward.”

“Energy Vault was selected for these projects due to their impressive track record and we are thrilled to leverage their depth of expertise in design, engineering, construction and procurement,” said ACEN Australia Managing Director David Pollington. “Energy Vault’s ability to work with our Siemens S120 converters will be particularly valuable as we optimize our battery storage systems for maximum efficiency and impact.”