ASL, acting as the NSW Consumer Trustee for the NSW Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap, has awarded Ark Energy’s Bowmans Creek Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), proposed for Stage 1 of the Bowmans Creek Wind Farm, a Long-Term Energy Service Agreement (LTESA) in the latest competitive tender for long duration storage projects.

Tender Round 6, designed to support the delivery of high-quality electricity infrastructure that is in the long-term financial interests of NSW electricity customers, was open to projects that can be operational by 2034 and dispatch at their registered capacity for a minimum of eight hours.

The Bowmans Creek BESS would provide a power capacity of up to 250 MW and energy storage of up to 2,000 MWh over eight hours. It is proposed to be co-located with Ark Energy’s 335 megawatt (MW) Bowmans Creek Wind Farm, which was approved in 2024 for a location about 30 km north of Singleton in the NSW Hunter-Central Coast Renewable Energy Zone. Ark Energy intends to seek approval to add the BESS as a modification to the wind farm and install it within the south-western section of the project area.

“We are thrilled that Ark Energy has been successful in Tender Round 6 of the NSW Roadmap and the Bowmans Creek BESS has been awarded an LTESA. This project will make a significant contribution to the future electricity needs of NSW consumers and support the state's transmission network through the energy transition,” said CEO Michael Choi.

“We thank the NSW Government and ASL for the trust and confidence they have placed in Ark Energy and look forward to delivering this important project for NSW.”

The BESS proposal’s community investment commitments include community development funding of $300,000 per annum for the life of the LTESA and $600,000 for initiatives to grow the local supply chain over the next five years, including $250,000 to upskill the local workforce through education initiatives, $250,000 to develop the local First Nations supply chain and workforce, and $100,000 to facilitate First Nations education programs.

If constructed at the same time as the Bowmans Creek Wind Farm, which is expected to generate more than 200 construction jobs, the BESS will require an additional 50 construction jobs. If constructed separately it will require approximately 150 construction jobs.

This is Ark Energy’s second long duration storage project to be awarded an LTESA, after its 275 MW / 2,200 MWh Richmond Valley BESS was awarded an LTESA in Tender Round 3 in December 2023.

More information on ASL’s NSW Roadmap - Tender Round 6 is available here.

More information on the community commitments for the Bowmans Creek BESS are available on the project’s community page.