The world's biggest fund manager, BlackRock will commit $1 billion for nine grid-scale battery projects along the east-coast electricity grid, including in the Hunter.
The investment, regarded as crucial to driving the shift from coal to clean energy, follows the American company's announcement this week that it will buy out Melbourne-based Akaysha Energy
It marks the company's first deployment of battery storage projects in the Asia-Pacific region.
The company's biggest project is a 1600MWh big battery near Wellington. The battery could feature up to eight hours of storage and is likely to be included in the state government's Central West Orana renewable energy zone.
It is likely that the project, which adjoins the Hunter renewable energy zone, will complement another grid-scale project closer to Newcastle.
BlackRock says many gigawatts of battery storage will be needed to meet the federal government's target of 82 per cent renewables by 2030, and to fill the gap created by the retirement of coal generators.
"As renewable energy infrastructure continues to mature in Australia, investment is required in battery storage assets to ensure the resilience and reliability of the grid, especially with the continued earlier-than-expected retirement of coal-fired power stations," Reid said in a statement," BlackRock's co-head of climate infrastructure Charlie Reid said.
"For our clients, we see tremendous long-term growth potential in the development of advanced battery storage assets across Australia and in other Asia-Pacific markets and look forward to working with Akaysha to ensure an orderly transition to a cleaner and secure energy future."
While coal-fired electricity still accounts for most of the nation's power supply, the influx of cheaper-to-run renewable energy has been undercutting its economic viability, leading to power suppliers Origin Energy and EnergyAustralia bringing forward the closures of some of Australia's largest generators.
The Liddell battery is part of AGL's planned national roll-out of 850 MW of grid-scale batteries, with construction underway at Torrens Island and planning progressing at Broken Hill and Loy Yang.
The company has signed agreements with Finland's Wartsila and US storage provider Fluence to supply the technology for the battery, which will be built in several phases.
Similar projects are also planned for land adjacent to Eraring Power Station, which is due to close in 2025.
In addition to grid-scale battery projects, dozens of smaller projects are in the planning and development phase across the Hunter.
Sydney-based company Firm Power is preparing environmental impact statements for batteries at Awaba, Beresfield and Muswellbrook as part of its Hunter Dispatchable Energy System.
The project aims to create a distributed stand-alone battery system for the Hunter region, which balances the grid and supports the future uptake of renewable energy in NSW.
The batteries will purchase power from the grid while prices are low and sell back while prices are higher.
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