Meridian Energy has officially opened New Zealand's first large-scale grid battery storage system at Ruakākā, the first of its kind, and a milestone in the country's renewable energy infrastructure development.
The Ruakākā Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) delivers 100 megawatts (MW) of maximum output with 200 MW-hour storage capacity. Meridian says that is sufficient to power approximately 60,000 average households for two hours during winter peak demand periods.
Construction began in early 2023 and was completed within the original $186 million budget envelope, Meridian says. It was meant to be operational at the end of 2024, but Meridian says there are still approvals of final commissioning test results needed so that date has been moved to the middle of this year.
The battery technology from French energy storage systems giant Saft powers the Ruakākā BESS, with grid integration support from Transpower.
Saft was incorporated in 1913 as La Société Industrielle des Accumulateurs Alcalins, and changed its name to La Société des Accumulateurs Fixes et de Traction; it has been making nickel and lithium based batteries since then, and was for some years owned by giant French industrial conglomerate Alcatel.
Nowadays, Saft is owned by TotalEnergies, a massive petroleum company that is headquartered in France.
For Ruakākā, Saft built and installed the BESS using containerised lithium-ion batteries as well as power conversion equipment. Saft will operate the Ruakākā BESS for 20 years for Meridian. The 80 Intensium Shift batteries are the lithium iron phosphate that work well for mains grid applications.
Each Intensium Shift battery is listed by Saft as having 3 MWh capacity, and fits into a 20-foot (6.1 metre) container.
Guy Waipara, Meridian's general manager of development, said the battery adds crucial North Island storage capability to New Zealand's electricity system with multiple operational benefits.
The battery gives Meridian the ability to load shift between price periods, smooth out peaks (peak shaving) and provides greater resilience for Northland - and it enables the gentailer to participate in the North Island electricity reserves market, Waipara added.
Battery storage systems like Ruakākā can absorb excess renewable generation during low-demand periods and release it when needed, helping to stabilise grid operations and potentially moderate pricing extremes.
Meridian supplied video of the Ruakākā battery.
When the Ruakākā battery build was announced, Meridian said it expects somewhere in the region of $35 million in revenue from the site.
Next up for Meridian is the neighbouring $227 million, 130 MW Ruakākā Solar Farm, with construction scheduled to begin in August this year. It's part of Meridian's $3 billion investment package over five years.
Together, the BESS and solar power generation projects form the Ruakākā Energy Park.
The gentailer also has four additional projects already consented, including another battery system in Manawatū, with several others progressing through consenting processes.
Meridian plans to incorporate batteries into multiple new solar farm projects, suggesting the Ruakākā model could be replicated across the country.
Grid-scale batteries are clearly seen by power companies as a way to keep up with soaring electricity demand - and rising prices. Last year, Saft announced that it had won a contract with Genesis, to build a similar 100 MW/200 MWh battery system at the Huntly Power Station, as the Ruakākā site.
The Huntly installation is scheduled to come online by end of 2026.
Contact is building a 100 MW battery in Glenbrook, South Auckland, on the site of New Zealand Steel. Scheduled to be operational in March 2026, the system will be built with 59 Tesla Megapack 2 XL batteries. Each of those units have 3.9 MWh capacity, and will also be used for Energy Australia's 350 MW battery system in Victoria, scheduled for completion by 2027.
Update The revenue figure for the battery was given by Meridian in NZ$ and not US$. The story has been amended with the correct currency and amount.
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