■ AUCKLAND GRID INFRASTRUCTURE

Powering a Sustainable Future

A utility-scale battery energy storage system at the heart of New Zealand's largest electricity load centre, anchoring a more resilient, flexible, and lower-carbon grid for Auckland and the upper North Island.

A grid-scale battery at New Zealand's most important node

The Otahuhu BESS Project is being developed by Energy Connect on a 2.5-hectare industrial site in South Auckland, directly connecting into Transpower's Otahuhu substation — historically the single most strategic node in the New Zealand Electricity Market. From this location the project can charge during low-price overnight and shoulder periods and discharge into the morning and evening peaks, providing reliable capacity exactly where and when the grid needs it most.

Built on proven lithium iron phosphate (LFP) storage technology, the project will deliver up to 200 MW of dispatchable capacity with 400 MWh of usable energy — enough to power roughly 130,000 New Zealand homes through a typical evening peak.

Project Overview

TRANSITION SUPPORT

Why Now?

New Zealand's energy transition is creating an unprecedented opportunity for grid-scale storage. Coal and gas baseload is being retired; new generation is overwhelmingly intermittent (wind and solar); hydro storage is increasingly stretched in dry years; and the country has committed to 100 percent renewable electricity. The result is a structural mismatch between when energy is generated and when it is consumed — and a price signal in the wholesale market that grows steeper every year.

Analysis of two-and-a-half decades of nodal price history at Otahuhu shows the daily charge-to-discharge spread rising consistently — from around NZ$30/MWh in the late 1990s to over NZ$170/MWh today, and forecast to continue climbing through the project's operating life. Battery storage is the only proven, scalable technology positioned to capture this spread while delivering the system services the grid increasingly depends on.

PROJECT DETAILS

At a Glance

Engineered for peak shifting, rapid response and high-capacity dispatch. Our facility provides the physical infrastructure required to manage peak loads across the Auckland network.