What happened with Akaysha Energy's Waratah Super Battery project?

Akaysha Energy has successfully brought a second transformer online at its Waratah Super Battery facility on the New South Wales Central Coast. This achievement ramps the asset's available power up to 700 megawatts, representing 82 per cent of its final targeted total output.

Why does the Waratah Super Battery upgrade matter for the Australian energy grid?

The capacity increase injects crucial stability and power into the Australian energy network during a major clean energy transition. Under a guaranteed capacity agreement with NSW grid owner Transgrid, 350 megawatts of power will be dedicated to securing the state's local infrastructure.

What are the key capacity and storage metrics for the Waratah Super Battery now?

The energy storage component of the plant has successfully reached its fully rated capacity of 1680 megawatt-hours. In terms of power output, the project is currently generating 700 megawatts of its ultimate 850-megawatt design limit.

What caused the previous delays and capacity constraints at the Waratah Super Battery?

The project's capacity was heavily restricted due to a catastrophic transformer failure that occurred at the Central Coast site in October 2025. This equipment failure required Akaysha Energy to conduct extensive repairs and safety testing before bringing subsequent infrastructure online.

Why is Akaysha Energy's corporate ownership status changing right now?

The asset's operational progress comes at a pivotal corporate moment as its parent entity, the global asset manager BlackRock, looks to cash in on the project. BlackRock-backed Akaysha Energy is actively seeking potential bids from third parties to purchase its fast-growing, grid-scale battery business.

Image for illustrative purposes only. Not a real photo.

Waratah Super Battery reaches 82% capacity

Written by Mahathir BayenaPublished Jun 5, 2026, 3:47 AM

The Waratah Super Battery on the New South Wales Central Coast has brought a second transformer online, ramping its available power up to 700 megawatts, or 82% of its final total output.

This marks a recovery milestone for developer Akaysha Energy following a catastrophic transformer failure at the site last October.

According to an Akaysha spokesperson, the plant’s energy storage has now reached its fully rated capacity of 1680 megawatt-hours.

Under a guaranteed capacity agreement with NSW grid owner TransGrid, the facility will continue providing 350 megawatts of power to secure the state's network.

The additional 350 megawatts unlocked by this upgrade will be actively supplied into the National Electricity Market, providing vital support to the grid.

The progress arrives at a pivotal moment for the BlackRock-backed developer. Akaysha is currently seeking potential bids from third parties for its fast-growing, grid-scale battery business.

Sell-side adviser Macquarie Capital opened the data room for the sales process earlier this week, signalling strong market interest in the expanding renewable energy infrastructure sector.

Looking ahead, Akaysha expects the battery to achieve its full guaranteed network capacity of 700 megawatts once a third transformer becomes operational later this year.

Upon completion, the entire facility will deliver a maximum power output of 850 megawatts alongside its 1680 megawatt-hours of storage.