Powin has successfully delivered and installed all Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) equipment for Australia’s 850MW/1,680MWh Waratah Super Battery (WSB) Project in New South Wales, marking a significant milestone in the project’s development. This achievement highlights Powin’s technical leadership, resilient supply chain, and strong partnerships, positioning the WSB to effectively enhance grid reliability, integrate renewable energy, and provide crucial protections against disruptions.
When the Waratah Super Battery (WSB) Project in New South Wales, Australia was announced in 2022, it marked a pivotal moment in the new energy landscape for New South Wales—and for the world. This massive undertaking represents a future less reliant on fossil fuels; one that offers access to reliable and cost-effective electricity, and provides protection to the grid from things like bush fires or lightning strikes.
All that was left to do was build it.
The pressure to bring WSB to fruition is equally massive. Following a competitive tender process, Akaysha Energy was selected to develop, own, and operate the project. They, in turn, selected Powin as the sole BESS provider. As evidence of the partnership’s ongoing success, a major milestone was recently achieved with all BESS equipment for the entire plant delivered and installed as promised.
Performance as Predicted
For Powin, meeting a milestone of this magnitude was no surprise. It’s the direct result of our company’s technical leadership, resilient supply chain, and strategic project delivery expertise.
Akaysha Energy chose Powin for what we bring to the table. The performance, reliability, and safety capabilities of our Centipede Stack750 hardware and our US-designed and tested StackOS software control system made Powin the obvious choice. For WSB we also provide a complete AC solution by partnering with eks Energy (part of Hitachi Energy strategic alliance) and integrating their Power Conversion System (PCS) into our comprehensive solution.
The Powin Architecture
Integrated solution for optimized performance and supply chain agility & resiliency
But it’s more than that. Together, Akaysha Energy, Powin, and eks Energy are well-positioned to meet the high standards set by the Australian grid operator, including the Generator Performance Standard which is a prerequisite for entering the Australian market.
A Lot Has Happened in Two Years
In the two years since WSB was announced, the amount of planning, procurement, and implementation required to reach energization is simply astonishing. It’s all due to the amazing teamwork of Powin as well as our strategic partnerships with cell vendors, contract manufacturers, and logistics partners.
A Diverse, Resilient Supply Chain
No other BESS provider has a supply chain quite like ours. Global and diverse, it enables us to ensure that costs are under control and that we meet project demands and commercial obligations. For the WSB project, Powin leveraged its cell-agnostic approach by partnering with REPT and EVE to supply battery cells for the Centipede Stack750 enclosures.
Global Project. Global Procurement.
The WSB project resides in Australia yet, it is truly global in nature. This is right in the wheelhouse of the Powin procurement team which deftly handled job sourcing and materials acquisition to manufacture Centipede hardware units. Capabilities like these enable Powin to successfully deliver the project and meet the commercial obligations outlined in the contract.
Contract Manufacturing
For this massive project, Powin has engaged with contract manufacturers such as ACE Engineering, CIMC, and Ebara in our cutting-edge, global manufacturing facilities. At these facilities, we assembled and tested battery cells, modules, packs, and Centipede stacks, ensuring the best hardware quality for our customer. In total, we have manufactured 2,592 energy segments and 288 collection segments for the WSB project.
Efficient Logistics Management
We successfully managed the logistics of manufacturing, shipping, and delivering up to 240-280 Centipede Stack750 units each week. Over the course of four months, we delivered all the energy and collection segments to the WSB site, as well as all the PCSes over a seven-month period.
Centipede: Our modular & scalable energy storage platform
Quality and Testing
Our proven, repeatable, global manufacturing methods have ensured top quality and safety of our units for the WSB project, as we conduct uniform testing on every BESS at each of our manufacturing facilities before the unit is shipped.
Meeting Customer Project Delivery Expectations Globally
Because of our resilient supply chain and strategic partnerships, Powin can scale as needed without sacrificing quality of products and service for other clients. While simultaneously working on the Waratah project execution, the Powin Projects team successfully delivered the 515 MW/2155 MWh Sun Streams Complex, a large PV+Storage project in Arizona developed by Longroad Energy. On projects of these sizes, flexibility and options in manufacturing are essential. Having established partnerships with trusted vendors gives us greater control over quality, availability, and on-time delivery. For global projects like WSB in particular, it’s not just advantageous, it’s imperative.
What is Next?
The WSB project is set to begin the commissioning process. To achieve that goal, Powin will conduct system commissioning to ensure storage equipment, software, applications, and controls perform as planned. Once the system is fully commissioned, it will be validated through various Hold Point tests which verify that our system can achieve its commercial performance obligations. Due to Powin’s vertical integration, we ensure timely commissioning, minimizing the likelihood of in-field delays, as eks Energy’s PCS and controls integrations are fully and rigorously tested in the Powin Battery Lab well before the field.
Once the WSB system achieves its obligations for system testing under the Supply Agreement, the project will transition to operational status and be overseen by the Powin Service Team. Our 20-year long-term service agreement (LTSA) will enhance the reliability, efficiency, and availability of power supplied by the mega battery.
A Bright Future on the Horizon
When complete, WSB will provide a service of at least 700 MW capacity as part of a System Integrity Protection Scheme (SIPS). This flagship SIPS project will unlock latent transfer capacity in the existing transmission system, help integrate renewable energy and maintain grid reliability by acting as a ‘shock absorber’ if disruptions such natural disasters interrupt the flow of electricity. The WSB Project will ensure Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong have access to more energy from existing generators while reducing the risk of power disruptions.
Stepping Up and Delivering
We have accomplished much and, importantly, we have delivered as promised. There is much yet to be done, but meeting milestones such as full project delivery is a critical indicator of success. For this new era of clean energy to continue to flourish and for investors to remain interested, there is very little room for error. This is a time when giant strides must be made, and Powin is the company able to commit to making them. It’s not based on hopes and dreams; rather, on a solid bedrock of leading-edge innovation, trusted vendors and manufacturing partnerships, and real scalability that can meet the growing demands of a global market.
We plan to deliver as promised, every step of the way.
Brian Kane, Chief Projects Officer at Powin
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