August 22, 2025: The first 350 MW / 700 MWh of Australia’s Waratah Super Battery project are now online, operator Akaysha Energy has announced.

The BESS is already serving as a ‘shock absorber’ for the New South Wales electricity grid in case of events such as heatwaves, lightning strikes and bush fires, Akaysha said on August 5.

The announcement came more than two years after the NSW state government granted planning approval for the lithium ion BESS at a former coal-fired power station, about 100km north of Sydney.

Waratah is the world’s most powerful battery in terms of power and energy storage capacity, Akaysha said.

The BESS will have a capacity of 850MW/1,680MWh when fully operational later this year, providing a guaranteed continuous active power capacity of at least 700MW and a guaranteed usable energy storage capacity of at least 1,400 MWh.

Akaysha said the capacity is enough to supply 970,000 homes with electricity for one hour, fully charge nearly 46 million smartphones in one hour and supply 80,000 homes with electricity for a full day (based on 21 kWh per day usage).