Stockholm (NordSIP) – P+, the €23 billion pension fund for Danish academics, announced on 1 September 2025 that it had made a new investment in an Australian ‘super battery.’
The Waratah Super Battery is designed to the act as a de facto ‘shock absorber’ for the New South Wales (NSW) electricity grid, rapidly stepping in when the grid is disrupted by emergencies such as bushfires. Commissioned by the NSW Government and delivered and operated by Akaysha Energy, the Waratah Super Battery is currently the world’s most powerful battery in terms of power and energy storage capacity. The fact that it was built on the site of the decommissioned Munmorah coal-fired power station may be seen as symbolic of the ongoing greening of the Australian energy grid.
Aside from the super battery’s emergency ‘shock absorber’ role, the Waratah plant will also facilitate the connection of more solar and wind energy power to the electricity grid by acting as a buffer against the fluctuations in output associated with these types of renewables. According to Michael Dalsgaard, Head of Alternative Investments at P+, the investment was made in collaboration with StepStone Infrastructure and Real Assets. “The investment in Waratah Super Battery underlines our strategic focus on infrastructure,” he explains, adding: “Through Stepstone Group, we have gained access to investments in energy transition and digital infrastructure through their collaboration with other top managers in the areas.”
Shock absorber and baseload back-up
According to Akaysha Energy, the Waratah Super Battery’s 850 megawatts/1680 megawatt-hour-capacity is enough to supply almost a million homes with electricity for an hour or charge 46 million smartphones in the same timeframe. It is scheduled to reach full operating capacity later this year. P+ believes that battery facilities of this type will help encourage the phasing out of fossil fuel power plants as well as exert downward pressure on energy prices. Australia’s Clean Energy Council reported in May 2025 that AUD 2.4 billion was being directed towards new Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) in the country.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) sees grid-scale storage as an essential complement to intermittent wind and solar energy in its 2050 net-zero scenario. While technology such as pumped-storage hydropower can contribute, this is highly site dependent. That is why further investment in battery storage is needed. China has thus far led the way in new battery installations, but the IEA is urging other nations to greatly accelerate their investments in the technology as the overall projected growth in grid-scale storage is far short of what is needed for net-zero 2050.
Image courtesy of StockSnap on Pixabay
Stockholm (NordSIP) – P+, the €23 billion pension fund for Danish academics, announced on 1 September 2025 that it had made a new investment in an Australian ‘super battery.’
The Waratah Super Battery is designed to the act as a de facto ‘shock absorber’ for the New South Wales (NSW) electricity grid, rapidly stepping in when the grid is disrupted by emergencies such as bushfires. Commissioned by the NSW Government and delivered and operated by Akaysha Energy, the Waratah Super Battery is currently the world’s most powerful battery in terms of power and energy storage capacity. The fact that it was built on the site of the decommissioned Munmorah coal-fired power station may be seen as symbolic of the ongoing greening of the Australian energy grid.
Aside from the super battery’s emergency ‘shock absorber’ role, the Waratah plant will also facilitate the connection of more solar and wind energy power to the electricity grid by acting as a buffer against the fluctuations in output associated with these types of renewables. According to Michael Dalsgaard, Head of Alternative Investments at P+, the investment was made in collaboration with StepStone Infrastructure and Real Assets. “The investment in Waratah Super Battery underlines our strategic focus on infrastructure,” he explains, adding: “Through Stepstone Group, we have gained access to investments in energy transition and digital infrastructure through their collaboration with other top managers in the areas.”
Shock absorber and baseload back-up
According to Akaysha Energy, the Waratah Super Battery’s 850 megawatts/1680 megawatt-hour-capacity is enough to supply almost a million homes with electricity for an hour or charge 46 million smartphones in the same timeframe. It is scheduled to reach full operating capacity later this year. P+ believes that battery facilities of this type will help encourage the phasing out of fossil fuel power plants as well as exert downward pressure on energy prices. Australia’s Clean Energy Council reported in May 2025 that AUD 2.4 billion was being directed towards new Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) in the country.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) sees grid-scale storage as an essential complement to intermittent wind and solar energy in its 2050 net-zero scenario. While technology such as pumped-storage hydropower can contribute, this is highly site dependent. That is why further investment in battery storage is needed. China has thus far led the way in new battery installations, but the IEA is urging other nations to greatly accelerate their investments in the technology as the overall projected growth in grid-scale storage is far short of what is needed for net-zero 2050.
Image courtesy of StockSnap on Pixabay
