• How energy storage technologies are enabling Australia’s transition to 100% renewables
• Strategic deployment of storage solutions to maximise grid stability and reliability
• Economic opportunities in positioning Australia as a renewable energy exporter
• Overcoming integration challenges through innovative storage applications

• 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?

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

• 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 explore Australia’s substantial untapped vehicle-to-grid potential—equivalent to one of the nation’s largest batteries, with a 5GW capacity. Examining the commercial pathway for V2G/V2X technologies, examining regulatory developments, integration challenges, and the strategic advantages of bidirectional charging within a broader ecosystem that includes hydrogen seasonal storage, flexible EV charging networks, and next-generation energy solutions for data centres.

• How will the ESEM support long-term investments in renewable generation and storage?
• What advantages does ESEM offer over the existing Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS)?
• What incentives are proposed for energy storage participation in Essential System Services?
• How to accelerate zero-emission firming technologies deployment?
• What solutions address the “hidden participants” challenge in grid visibility?
• How will energy storage reshape NEM price formation?
• What strategies will address predicted reliability gaps in SA and NSW (2026-28)?

• 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

• 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

• How are cutting-edge fire prevention systems transforming emergency response protocols for modern BESS installations?
• What strategies effectively bridge the gap between first responders, communities, and project developers when planning for safety incidents?
• In what ways can warranty structures and performance guarantees be redesigned to better address degradation and thermal risks?
• What innovative solutions are emerging to tackle the critical shortage of trained safety specialists in the rapidly expanding BESS sector?

• 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