Big-three utility cops fine for failing to deliver essential grid services from fleet of big batteries

Detailed summary

EnergyAustralia becomes latest big-three Australian utility to be hit with fines from the AER for failing to deliver essential grid services, in this case from its big batteries.

EnergyAustralia has become the latest big-three Australian utility to be hit with fines from the national market regulator for failing to deliver essential grid services, in this case from big batteries.

The Australian Energy Regulator said on Wednesday that EnergyAustralia has paid $750,000 in infringement notices for alleged breaches of its obligations to provide frequency control ancillary services (FCAS), one of the key ingredients for keeping the grid stable and preventing blackouts.

The AER says it issued 10 infringement notices to the EnergyAustralia for infringements on multiple occasions during 2023 and 2024 – the breaches were self-reported by the utility.

On these occasions the AER says EnergyAustralia “failed to ensure that four of the battery energy storage systems it manages in New South Wales and Victoria could fulfil FCAS offers submitted to AEMO” or failed to ensure that these four batteries complied with FCAS dispatch instructions from AEMO.

The AER does not name the batteries, but at the above dates these are likely to be assets that EnergyAustralia does not own, but manages and contracts via a long-term agreement covering energy arbitrage, grid stability, and frequency control services.

In Victoria, EnergyAustralia holds the commercial charge and dispatch rights for the 25 megawatt (MW)/ 50 megawatt-hour (MWh) Gannawarra Energy Storage System, west of Kerang, while in NSW it contracts or manages BESS including Darlington Point (25 MW/33 MWh) and Riverina (65 MW/87 MWh).

An EnergyAustralia spokesperson on Wednesday confirmed that the batteries connected to the breaches were the Ballarat, Gannawarra, Darlington Point and Riverina.

“EnergyAustralia has paid the infringement notices,” the spokesperson said. “It follows our self report to the AER that [the] four batteries … were at times offered into the frequency control ancillary services (FCAS) market with less capacity than they could actually deliver.

“We self reported the instances to the AER, the…

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