Contact Energy, a New Zealand electricity and natural gas retailer, has officially commissioned its first grid-scale battery energy storage system, located at the Glenbrook plant operated by New Zealand Steel in South Auckland. The facility has a capacity of 100 MW / 200 MWh.
Named the Glenbrook Ohurua Battery 1, the system comprises 56 Tesla Megapack 2XL battery units, providing two hours of sustained discharge and capable of responding to grid signals within 0.2 seconds.
Contact Energy Chief Executive Mike Fuge described the system as a “Swiss Army knife for the electricity system,” able to store surplus power from renewable generation and release it rapidly during surges in demand.
The project will store electricity that would otherwise be curtailed from New Zealand’s pumped hydro, geothermal and wind facilities, then discharge it during peak consumption periods or sudden outages.
Contact Energy delivered the project on schedule and under budget, in partnership with New Zealand Steel, Tesla, Transpower, Omexom, ABB, Entec, Obertech Group, Worley and ElectroNet Group.
Construction began in July 2024 and created approximately 50 jobs during the build phase. Tesla handled supply, commissioning and long-term maintenance services, marking the company’s first deployment of Megapack 2XL units in New Zealand.
Contact Energy plans to expand the battery storage facility to 130 MW, which would make it the country’s largest battery storage system.
The company is also advancing a separate, independently deployed battery storage project at the same site, the Glenbrook Ohurua 2, with a capacity of 200 MW / 400 MWh, expected to come online in the first quarter of 2028.
These projects form part of Contact Energy’s $525 million NZ (approximately $316 million US) equity raising announced earlier this year, aimed at accelerating its renewable energy and storage development pipeline.
The equity funding will also support the 150 MW Glorit solar farm, being developed through a joint venture with Lightsourcebp, and fund pre-final-investment-decision drilling for the Tauhara 2 geothermal expansion.
Another 150 MW solar farm, KōwhaiPark, also being developed with Lightsourcebp, is on track for scheduled completion in the second quarter of 2026.
The commissioning comes as New Zealand faces mounting energy security challenges. Grid operator Transpower has warned that, despite record planned storage capacity, the country could face supply shortfalls by 2031 unless generation and storage projects are accelerated.
New Zealand’s battery storage market is gathering pace, with multiple developers advancing large-scale projects. Genesis Energy recently approved what it calls the country’s lowest-cost grid-scale battery, while international developers are also entering the market.
Source: WeChat Official Account——储能网
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