Page Reader AI | Q1 2025 Buildout Report: How quickly is BESS coming online in the NEM? - Research

Q1 2025 Buildout Report: How quickly is BESS coming online in the NEM? - Research | Modo Energy

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Executive Summary

As of May 1st, 2025, the NEM boasts 2.4 GW and 3.8 GWh of commercially operational battery energy storage capacity. 155 MW came online in Q1, with an additional 200 MW in April. This growth, however, is not without challenges.

Project Delays

Two projects experienced significant delays, taking up to 21 months to complete commissioning due to issues with new supplier combinations and the increasing diversification among battery suppliers, integrators, and EPCs.

Pipeline Growth and Future Projections

Despite these delays, the NEM's battery energy storage pipeline has grown by 300 MW. 5.7 GW are under construction, and 1.8 GW are in commissioning. The report projects fleet capacity to reach 5-6 GW by the end of 2025, contingent upon the speed of project commissioning.

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Australia’s National Electricity Market (NEM) has one of the world’s largest battery energy storage pipelines. Over 17 GW of projects are attempting to start operation by the end of 2027. However, the success on this pipeline getting built depends on each project’s ability to achieve financing and then its ability to be built and commissioned.

This article provides an update on the progress of battery energy storage projects in the NEM: what projects came online in the first quarter of 2025, how the remainder of the pipeline is progressing, and what this means for our expectations of battery buildout through to the end of 2027.

Executive summary

155 MW of new battery capacity began commercial operations in Q1, followed by an additional 200 MW in April. This brings commercially operational battery energy storage capacity in the NEM to 2.4 GW and 3.8 GWh.
Two projects finally completed their delayed commissioning process in March and April to start commercial operations. These systems took up to 21 months to complete the process.
New combinations of battery supplier, integrator and/or EPC were the cause delays in commissioning. Projects are now relying on an increasingly diversified field of suppliers, including Powin, Canadian Solar, Sungrow and Trina.
The battery energy storage pipeline in the NEM has grown 300 MW, with projects progressing throughout. 5.7 GW of projects are now in various stages of construction, with a further 1.8 GW in commissioning.
The pace at which projects can pass through commissioning will determine short-term capacity growth. Fleet capacity is expected to reach between 5 and 6 GW by the end of 2025.

This article builds upon our 2025 NEM Pipeline Report. You can read it here.

355 MW of new battery energy storage capacity online in the NEM since start of the year

In the first three months of 2025, 155 MW (310 MWh) of new battery energy storage began commercial operations in the NEM. This was eclipsed by a further 200 MW / 400 MWh in April. This brings commercially operational battery capacity in the NEM to 2.4 GW and 3.8 GWh (as of 1st May).