Australia Activates First 8-Hour Grid Battery Powered by 144 Tesla Megapacks

RWE's Limondale battery storage facility in New South Wales has commenced commercial operations following final operational approval from grid operator AEMO earlier this year. Located near Balranald in the state's southwest, the installation sits adjacent to the existing Limondale solar farm.

The facility employs an asymmetric charge-discharge architecture. The system charges at approximately 100 MW over four hours during peak solar generation periods, then discharges at a controlled 50 MW rate across eight hours to address evening demand. This design diverges from conventional grid batteries that operate at identical charge and discharge rates. The configuration specifically targets the "duck curve" challenge: managing excess midday solar output while maintaining supply during evening peaks.

Limondale was the sole winning bid in New South Wales's inaugural long-duration storage tender under the state's Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap, secured through a Long-Term Energy Service Agreement that provides government revenue certainty. Tesla supplied the Megapack units, with Beon Energy Solutions responsible for balance-of-plant systems. Two additional eight-hour battery projects backed by similar agreements are advancing through NSW's development pipeline. Industry observers note that eight-hour storage duration represents a critical threshold for enabling substantial coal plant retirement by maintaining solar-generated electricity through complete evening demand periods.