AMPYR has successfully achieved financial closure for the Wellington Stage 1 battery energy storage system (BESS) project in regional New South Wales (NSW). The Wellington Stage 1 BESS, with a capacity of 300 MW/600 MWh is expected to be operational by 2026. Grid connectivity will be facilitated by Lumea, which will connect the system to Transgrid’s 330 kV transmission network at Wellington.
The project will be built and delivered by Fluence Energy, leveraging its advanced Gridstack™ grid-scale energy storage platform. Fluence will also provide 20 years of operational services under a long-term maintenance contract. Performance optimisation for the facility will be undertaken by Mosaic and Nispera. Furthermore, the company has inked a 10-year virtual storage services agreement with ZEN Energy Retail Pty Ltd (ZEN Energy) for 150 MW of the BESS capacity.
The total financing for the Wellington Stage 1 BESS stands at over AUD 340 million, with funding secured from a consortium of lenders, including the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Bank of China, Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, Rabobank, Société Générale and United Overseas Bank. The project also includes a community engagement component, with AMPYR partnering with the Aboriginal community in Wellington to offer direct investment opportunities in the BESS project.
