Deal: Ashurst advised Akaysha Energy in preparing its tender submission to develop, own and operate the Waratah Super Battery Project and provided legal advice on a suite of project documents as part of a competitive procurement process launched by Energy Corporation of NSW (EnergyCo) in June 2022.

Value: Undisclosed

Area: Energy

Key players: The Ashurst team was led by partners Paul Curnow and Kate Phillips, who were assisted by senior associates Mike Webb and Kate Latta and associates Joshua Hetzel and Lucinda Merrett.

Further support was provided by partners Olivia Lau, Rebecca Dixon and Georgia Quick, senior associate Andrew Higgins and counsel Lixian Liang and Rachel Daniel.

Meanwhile, the Allens team was led by Kate Axup and comprised partners Felicity Rourke and Rob Watt, managing associates Danielle Jones, Skye Kirby and Eugene Tan, senior associates Ben van Weel and Katherine McLellan, associates Lauren Rosillo, Anushka Seth and Katie Ball, lawyers Lydia Ganci, Kim Le and Virginia Dore, and finance counsel Michelle Teng.

Deal significance: According to a statement provided by Ashurst, the Waratah Super Battery Project is set to become one of the largest committed utility-scale batteries in the world.

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“The Waratah Super Battery is a battery energy storage system (BESS) of 850 megawatt/1,680 megawatt hours that will provide a System Integrity Protection Scheme service capable of delivering 700 megawatts of continuous active power generation for a period of two hours (SIPS Service),” Ashurst’s statement said.

“The SIPS Service is designed to increase transmission capacity for generation in regional NSW to supply the Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong load centres.

“The landmark battery project will be the largest standby network battery in the southern hemisphere, and is likely to be one of the most powerful BESSs in the world when operational. It will enhance the investment of new renewable generation and provide critical transmission grid support in NSW, which is particularly crucial given the anticipated closure of the Eraring Power Station in 2025.”

Commenting further, Ashurst partner Paul Curnow said: “We are delighted to have assisted Akaysha Energy in being appointed to develop the Waratah Super Battery. This project will bring greater reliability to the power grid in NSW and play an important role in supporting Australia’s transition to a renewable energy future.”

Also commenting, Allens partner Kate Axup said: “We are delighted to have been able to support EnergyCo with the delivery of what is expected to be the most powerful battery in the world.

“This is a critical piece of infrastructure for the state of New South Wales, and the first to be delivered under the NSW Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap. It is a key step in the move towards ensuring a stable and secure power grid as coal-fired power stations retire.”