The projects aim to improve supply reliability during periods of high demand and address forecast supply shortfalls.

AusEnergy Services (ASL) has contracted two new firming projects in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, with a combined capacity of 532MW, following the seventh round of its Roadmap Tender for Firming Infrastructure.

The agreements, which have been awarded through long-term energy service agreements (LTESAs), are intended to strengthen electricity grid reliability by the end of November 2027.

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ASL confirmed the allocation of LTESAs for a 500MW battery energy storage system (BESS) being built at Tomago by AGL and a 32MW virtual power plant (VPP) led by Enel X Australia.

These projects aim to improve supply reliability during periods of high demand and address forecast supply shortfalls in the Sydney-Newcastle-Wollongong area.

Both projects will supply a combined 2.13GW-hours (GWh) of firming capacity.

The Tomago Battery project is a four-hour duration, grid-scale asset at the Tomago Industrial Estate between the Pacific Highway and Old Punt Road.

Construction on the BESS started in December 2025, with operations planned for the second half of 2027. The project is expected to employ 200 people during construction and six in ongoing roles.

Fluence was selected as the engineering, procurement and construction contractor. The estimated investment for the project is A$800m ($572m).

Enel X Australia’s VPP involves aggregating up to 32MW of flexible demand, primarily from commercial and industrial users throughout the Greater Sydney, Central Coast, Newcastle and Lower Hunter regions.

This VPP aims to provide rapid support to the grid by reducing or shifting electricity demand during critical periods and is scheduled to begin commercial operations by early July 2027.

With these new projects, the NSW Roadmap now has a contracted total of more than 1.5GW of firming capacity, including capacity secured in previous tenders.

All firming projects holding LTESAs must support the grid during Lack of Reserve events, complying with obligations to supply electricity when there is a risk of demand exceeding supply.

ASL CEO Nevenka Codevelle said: “A key benefit of these contracts is they require projects to support the system when consumers need them most, with performance obligations that require projects to make capacity available during Lack of Reserve 2 and 3 events.

“Each project’s ability to support the system during these times of need was an important consideration in the tender.”

ASL intends to conduct another tender for additional firming infrastructure in 2026 or 2027, aiming for operational readiness by 2033–34.

Two further tenders, due to open this month, will seek to add 2.5GW of generation capacity and 12GWh of long-duration storage to NSW’s electricity system.