Ballarat Energy Storage System (BALB1)

BESS · Ausnet Transmission Group Pty Ltd · Storage - Battery

Dispatch stats Financials
In Service VIC1 Other - Other NEM data · 24 hours
30/30 MW
Registered nameplate capacity / storage
24 hours revenue
$19
Capacity factor
-1.2%
Revenue / MWh
—
Est. SRMC
$0.00/MWh
MLF
0.9766

Stats window 29 May 2026 04:00 → 30 May 2026 04:00 AEST

Key information
Capacity
30 MW / 30 MWh
Status In Service
Lifecycle Operating
Region VIC1
DUID BALB1
Owner Ausnet Transmission Group Pty Ltd
Commissioned —
Expected closure 2025-07-02
Closure date —
Technology Storage - Battery
Fuel Other - Other

Dispatch & revenue

29 May 2026 04:00 → 30 May 2026 04:00 AEST

Revenue (× MLF)
$19
Dispatched
-8.5 MWh
Available
560.8 MWh
Curtailed
569.4 MWh
Curtailment
101.5%
of available
MLF used
0.9766
end of period

Energy flow

Dispatch target (cleared) vs availability — 5‑minute intervals. VIC1 regional price (RRP) on right axis.

Revenue (× MLF)

Estimated $ per interval using regional RRP and MLF effective on each day.

Methodology & assumptions

  • Dispatch & availability — AEMO Next Day Dispatch UNIT_SOLUTION (5‑minute intervals). Intervention intervals excluded.
  • Regional price — dispatch_price RRP matched by settlement time and NEM region (from generator registry).
  • Revenue (× MLF) — cleared MW × (5/60 h) × RRP × MLF. Chart uses MLF effective on each interval’s date; summary total uses MLF as at the end of the selected period (same as the revenue list).
  • Curtailment — estimated economic curtailment when availability exceeds dispatch target: max(0, availability − cleared) × (5/60) MWh.
  • Not settlement — estimates only. AEMO settlement applies DLF, rebids, constraints, and other factors not modelled here.
MLF history (AEMO daily)
Effective fromMLF
2024-07-18 0.9605
2025-07-01 0.9766

Financial overview

2026 real AUD. Monetary values are CPI-adjusted to 2026 real Australian dollars. Greenfield capex uses AEMO benchmarks when plant-specific cost is unknown.
Type
Battery (BESS)
Capacity
30 MW / 30 MWh
Revenue (× MLF) (stats)
See dispatch stats link above
Est. SRMC
$0.00/MWh
Capex total (greenfield)
$42.66M

How this was derived
Official ARENA project page gives the broad reported total project cost used as capex_total_aud.

Reference
Ballarat Energy Storage System (BESS) (high confidence)
Capex refurbishment
—
Capex / MW
$1,422,000

How this was derived
Derived calculation: 42.66m / 30 MW = AUD 1.422m/MW.

Reference
Ballarat Energy Storage System (BESS) (high confidence)
Capex / MWh storage
$1,422,000

How this was derived
Derived calculation: 42.66m / 30 MWh = AUD 1.422m/MWh.

Reference
Ballarat Energy Storage System (BESS) (high confidence)
Fixed OPEX (annual)
$270.0k

How this was derived
No Ballarat-specific dollar O&M was found, so the fixed O&M estimate is a technology default scaled from Aurecon/AEMO’s 1-hour BESS values.

Reference
2024 Energy Technology Cost and Technical Parameter Review (medium confidence)
Fixed OPEX / MW-yr
$9,000

How this was derived
Default O&M assumption used because the Ballarat reports describe responsibilities and cost allocation but not annual dollar O&M.

Reference
2024 Energy Technology Cost and Technical Parameter Review (medium confidence)
Variable OPEX / MWh
$0.00

How this was derived
Used to set variable O&M to zero/not separately modelled for this battery; costs are captured in fixed O&M/LTSA.

Reference
2024 Energy Technology Cost and Technical Parameter Review (medium confidence)
Fuel cost / GJ
—

How this was derived
Confirms there is no direct fuel use; charging electricity is not treated as fuel cost per GJ.

Reference
Ballarat Battery Energy Storage System Final Knowledge Sharing Report (high confidence)
Heat rate GJ/MWh
—

How this was derived
Heat rate is not meaningful for an electrochemical storage asset.

Reference
Ballarat Battery Energy Storage System Final Knowledge Sharing Report (high confidence)

Confidence: medium · Status: ai estimated · Capex basis: reported · AI checked 04 Jun 2026

Notes
Capex: ARENA project page reports total project cost of AUD 42.66m; a 2019 knowledge-sharing report also states project value of AUD 33.2m, likely a narrower D&C/substantial completion value. The financial profile uses ARENA total project cost as the broadest reported nominal project cost and preserves 2018 commissioning/commercial operation year. O&M: no Ballarat-specific dollar O&M amount was found; fixed O&M is estimated/defaulted using Aurecon/AEMO 2024 1-hour large-scale BESS assumptions: AUD 5,400/MW-year fixed O&M plus AUD 3,600/MW-year extended warranty, scaled to 30 MW = AUD 270,000/year. Variable O&M is set to 0 because Aurecon reports BESS long-term service agreements are not typically split into fixed/variable and variable O&M is shown as dash/included in fixed service costs. Efficiency is Ballarat-specific round-trip efficiency, averaged/rounded from contract year 1 and 2 operating parameters of 87.17% and 86.80%. Emissions intensity is direct operational emissions only; it excludes upstream emissions associated with charging electricity. Asset life uses a default modern lithium-ion BESS technical/economic life of 20 years; Ballarat-specific documentation confirms a 15-year Fluence service agreement but no explicit closure date. Major refurbishment/operational note: a battery replacement program was completed in contract year 2 after SoC restrictions affected availability; the report expected availability without the SoC restriction to reach approximately 99%.

Sources