Australia round-up: CleanCo opens 500 MWh Tesla BESS, EnergyAustralia achieves financial close on 250 MWh project, Quorn

Queensland state government-owned energy generator and retailer CleanCo has announced its large-scale 250 MW/500 MWh Swanbank Battery, located some 45 kilometers south-west of Brisbane, is officially open. According to press releases and a LinkedIn post from CleanCo CEO Tom Metcalfe, the project has reached “a key commissioning stage,” and is now able to operate at full output.

The project is located at the company’s Swanbank Energy Precinct, taking the location at a former coal power plant. The battery itself is at the Swanbank B site, a former coal plant decommissioned in 2012. At the Swanbank E site sits a combined-cycle gas-fired power station of 385 MW.

The battery is made up of 138 Tesla Megapack 2XL modules and is connected to the National Electricity Market via a new 275kV substation. Installation was carried out by Yurika, another Queensland government-owned company.

CleanCo’s Metcalfe pointed out the evolution of the Swanbank site.

“The Swanbank Battery is a critical addition to CleanCo’s portfolio, providing greater flexibility to supply reliable, lower-emissions energy to our customers when it’s needed most,” said Metcalfe.

“This project reflects the continued evolution of the Swanbank site, from coal to gas-fired stations and now battery storage, reinforcing CleanCo’s role in supporting Queensland’s energy system with dependable, lower-emission firming generation.”

Keen observers of Australia’s energy markets first noticed the Swanbank battery connected to the grid and supplying energy in November 2025.

The site also hosts a pilot 1.5 MW sodium-sulphur battery.

EnergyAustralia reaches financial close on 250 MWh BESS – story via pv magazine Australia.

EnergyAustralia’s 50 MW / 245 MW Stage 1 Hallett battery energy storage system, also co-located with a gas-fired power station, in South Australia, has reached financial close and is now moving into the delivery phase.

Located 210 kilometers north of Adelaide, EnergyAustralia plans to increase the BESS’s capacity in an already-approved Stage 2 by 150 MW / 600 MWh.

Stage 1, which will have five hours of storage, has moved from concept to investment decision in under two years and construction will begin in Q2 2026, with commercial operations expected by mid-2027.

EnergyAustralia Trading and Transition Executive Daniel Nugent said the project shows how existing sites can play an important role in the energy transition.

“Financial close means this project is real, funded, and now being built, and our focus now shifts squarely to disciplined execution and delivery,” Nugent said.

Italy-headquartered battery system integrator NHOA Energy has been engaged to supply batteries and inverters, while SA-headquartered engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) company Enerven will deliver civil, electrical and construction works.

The project secured support in 2024 from the Australian Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS) through the Victoria and South Australia CIS tender bid.

Quorn queues up

Also active is the first solar-battery hybrid facility approved in the National Electricity Market, the $190 million Quorn Park Solar Hybrid project developed by Potentia Energy in New South Wales, which has been spotted testing energy flows, after it was said to be energized some months earlier.

The hybrid site combines an 80 MW solar farm and a 20 MW / 40 MWh battery energy storage system, with each registered under separate dispatchable units: QPSFB1 for the solar and QPSFB2 for the BESS.

WattClarity spotted the Quorn project being involved in active NEM participation as the first “mixed” aggregate system under Australia’s Aggregated Dispatch rules first introduced in 2024, which come with some complex operational requirements.