The first quarter of 2025 was the second best on record for investment in large-scale Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) in Australia, with six projects worth $2. 4 billion in total reaching the financial commitment stage – delivering an extra 1.
How much is battery storage worth in Australia?
Credit: Phonlamai Photo / Shutterstock. The first quarter (Q1) of 2025 has seen a surge in investment for large-scale battery storage in Australia, with six projects worth a total of A$2.4bn ($1.5bn) reaching the financial commitment stage, according to the latest Clean Energy Australia Report 2025.
Australia's NEM will see a massive increase in grid-scale battery energy storage capacity in the next three years. There are 16.8 GW of battery projects that could come online in the National Electricity Market (NEM) by the end of 2027.
Even so, this buildout would result in a sevenfold increase in operational battery capacity over the next three years. Australia has a massive pipeline of grid-scale battery energy storage projects. 16.5 GW of new battery projects could arrive in the NEM in the next 3 years.
In addition to the six projects that reached financial commitment, a further three battery storage projects commenced construction in the first quarter of 2025, with a total of 840 MW / 2.9 GWh in storage capacity / energy output.
Big BESS battery energy storage systems (BESS) are booming in Australia, with almost 5 GW of projects under construction last year, according Rystad Energy. While encouraging, it reports that the volume remains insufficient to overcome growing rates of renewable curtailment. From ESS News
Which country has the largest battery energy storage system?
* This question is required. According to the report, the largest battery energy storage system (BESS) project to reach financial commitment in Q1 was in Wooreen, Victoria, boasting a storage capacity of 350MW and an energy output of 1.4GWh. South Australia led in terms of capacity, with projects totalling 640MW/1.8GWh.