• Can Australia realistically deploy enough storage to deliver a secure, fully renewable grid?
• What scale of capital deployment and transmission buildout is required to meet 2030 targets?
• Which storage technologies will dominate Australia’s energy landscape: lithium, LDES, pumped hydro, or hybrid solutions?
• How must market design evolve to properly value flexibility and drive multi-GW investment pipelines?
• What are the critical trade-offs between deployment speed, cost efficiency, and system resilience?

• Will the Capacity Investment Scheme accelerate storage deployment or crowd out private investment?
• Are current auction designs bankable for developers and financiers, or do they risk creating stranded bids and sunk costs?
• How are investors pricing merchant risk under CIS, and are revenue guarantees distorting valuations?
• What role should CIS play alongside other state incentives? Should it be the backbone of financing, or a temporary catalyst?
• If CIS were scaled or reshaped, what does that mean for long-term investor confidence and subsidy dependence in Australia’s energy market?

This session will delve into Australia’s significant untapped potential for vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology. With the implementation of 10kWh bidirectional chargers, the country could soon achieve an additional energy storage capacity of 10GWh per day. We will also explore the commercial pathways for V2G and vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technologies, including regulatory developments, integration challenges, and the strategic advantages of bidirectional charging. Additionally, this discussion will encompass a broader ecosystem that features hydrogen seasonal storage, flexible EV charging networks, and next-generation energy solutions for data centres.

• What strategies maximise project value within Renewable Energy Zones (REZ) and secure competitive allocation?
• How are states progressing against renewable targets through their electricity commissions and sector developments?
• Assessment of the Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS) and NEM review implementation – what’s working and what needs adjustment?
• Is the current model genuinely addressing market gaps or creating new challenges?
• Workforce development pathways to address critical labour shortages across the renewable sector
• Building supply chain resilience amid ongoing trade tensions and global competition
• Australia’s clean energy export strategy and necessary infrastructure upgrades to support it

This case study presentation will provide an in-depth analysis of Australia’s largest grid-forming battery energy storage system, examining its development, implementation, and impact on the NEM.

• Implementation challenges: Grid connection complexities and regulatory framework navigation
• Operational performance metrics and system response during contingency events
• Revenue stacking approach across FCAS markets and energy arbitrage
• Transmission network benefits and increased transfer capacity on critical interconnectors
• Effects on wholesale electricity prices and frequency control markets
• Enhanced grid capacity for variable renewable generation integration

As the energy storage sector continues to grow, managing risk in Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) has become increasingly complex, requiring a holistic approach across commercial, operational, and lifecycle considerations. This session will explore strategies to optimise reliability, scalability, and economic viability while addressing evolving market demands.

Key discussion points will include the roles of warranty structures and performance guarantees in addressing degradation and long-term reliability, as well as scaling operations to support larger portfolios and diverse fleets. Potential economically viable pathways for battery recycling and circular economy initiatives. Discussing how contracting and delivery methods influence project risk, the importance of advanced monitoring solutions to minimise performance risks over time, and the value of regular testing to ensure performance aligns with guarantees. Workforce development and the shortage of trained specialists will also be addressed, along with proactive risk management strategies across the lifecycle of BESS projects.

• How can energy storage mitigate curtailment caused by minimum system loads and network constraints?
• Strategies to address the economic impacts of negative pricing in the NEM
• Co-location with solar PV, wind and data centres
• How do advanced bidding tools and self-forecasting improve market participation for renewable and storage assets?
• What role does social licensing play in overcoming community resistance to new energy projects?
• How can government frameworks and incentives support grid upgrades and reduce curtailment?
• What operational strategies can optimise storage and renewable integration in constrained regions?

• Emerging benefit-sharing models
• Beyond tokenism: Creating genuine partnerships with Traditional Owners in renewable development
• Using renewable projects to reduce diesel reliance, improve energy security and strengthen climate resilience
• Policy frameworks that genuinely empower Indigenous leadership in the clean energy transition
• Measuring success: How community benefits extend beyond initial project deployment

• When landowners, farmers, and Traditional Owners push back, what approaches prevent delay and litigation?
• Which benefit-sharing models (equity stakes, trusts, local procurement) have proved credible to financiers and communities alike?
• What shifted local opposition into acceptance in recent REZ and transmission projects?
• How are investors pricing social licence risk into valuations and financing terms?

CentrePort Wellington is deploying a 1.5MWh/750kW battery system to enable port electrification while avoiding costly infrastructure upgrades. The presentation explores CentrePort’s journey in integrating BESS with flexible site assets—such as EV chargers, reefer loads, and solar arrays—to unlock stacked value across demand response, energy arbitrage, reserves, and power factor correction. Supported by Ara Ake’s economic modelling, this commercially viable solution has secured board approval for 2025 installation, establishing a blueprint for customer-led energy flexibility in industrial settings.

• What battery storage technologies are proving most successful in off-grid applications, and how could these be scaled for NEM integration?
• How are developers overcoming the technical challenges of integrating multiple DERs in isolated grid environments?
• What innovative financing models are emerging for off-grid projects that could transform investment in the NEM?
• How are supply chain constraints affecting project economics differently in WEM versus NEM markets?
• What regulatory reforms would enable the NEM to better capture value from distributed off-grid innovations?

• What does the next generation of energy storage consist of? Is Long Duration Energy Storage (LDES) the answer?
• Future chemistries: sodium-ion, zinc-air, lithium-sulphur
• Solid-state and hybrid chemistries
• Flow batteries, gravity batteries, thermal, compressed air, hydrogen – where next, and other emerging alternative storage