The Waratah Super Battery is built on the site of the former Munmorah coal-fired power station. (Supplied: Akaysha Energy)
A battery capable of powering more than one million NSW homes has been officially connected to the power grid and switched on.
The Waratah Super Battery, on the site of the former Munmorah coal-fired power station on the Central Coast, has been operating at 50 per cent capacity, or 370 megawatts.
Akaysha Energy chief executive Nick Carter, whose company operates the battery storage system, said it would act as a shock absorber for the power network.
“The main function of the battery is to really protect the network in case of an outage or a transmission line falling down or a power station tripping off,” Mr Carter said.
Benefits to consumers were expected to go beyond reliability.
“The battery will allow more low-cost energy from across NSW to come into the grid,” said EnergyCo executive director of technical advisory services, Andrew Kingsmill.
“That will put downward pressure on electricity prices, which I think we can agree is something that’s welcome for us all.”