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EnergyAustralia’s proposed Mt Piper Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) project, near Lithgow in New South Wales (NSW), has received development approval from the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure.
The proposed project site is on previously cleared land owned by EnergyAustralia, south of the Mt Piper Power Station. The project would connect into nearby, existing electricity infrastructure to develop a grid-scale battery with the capacity to dispatch up to 500MW of power over a duration of up to four hours.
The project would provide flow-on benefits for the local community, including up to 177 construction jobs. EnergyAustralia estimates the project would inject a total capital investment of approximately $1 billion into the NSW economy.
The Mt Piper BESS is now able to commence construction from 2026 and will help supply NSW customers with a reliable source of electricity when demand is high, adding security and reliability to the energy grid. At full capacity, the BESS could provide energy for up to 320,000 homes and small businesses for four hours.
A BESS is an energy storage system that can capture energy from multiple different sources, accumulate that energy, and store it for later use. Energy is discharged from the battery to meet demand when needed. Battery energy storage systems will play an essential role in the transition to renewable energy.
This announcement follows EnergyAustralia’s proposed Lake Lyell Pumped Hydro Project, near Lithgow in New South Wales, being declared Critical State Significant Infrastructure (CSSI) by the Minister for Planning and Public Spaces.
The Lake Lyell Pumped Hydro project is in the feasibility stage with a decision on proceeding likely in the second half of 2025. Similar to the Mt Piper BESS, the project would be built entirely on EnergyAustralia owned land and will not require any new transmission lines to be built. The Lake Lyell Pumped Hydro Project has a proposed capacity of 335 megawatts for up to eight hours, with flexible capacity of more than 400 megawatts for a shorter duration, providing energy for at least 150,000 homes.
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