Sydney – Global law firm K&L Gates has advised Generator Property Management Pty Ltd (GPM) on the grant of an option to lease land to EnergyCo. The land will be used to house what is projected to be one of the largest battery energy storage systems (BESS) in the world, to be known as the Waratah Super Battery.

The Waratah Super Battery is expected to have an active power capacity of 850 megawatts and storage capacity of 1680 megawatt hours. Power from the Waratah Super Battery will be used to increase transmission capacity for generation in regional New South Wales to supply the Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong load centres.

EnergyCo conducted a competitive process to select a successful bidder to undertake the development and operation of the Waratah Super Battery, who would also be nominated to take the lease of the land from GPM pursuant to the option to lease. Blackrock-backed Akaysha Energy has been named as the successful bidder.

The K&L Gates team that assisted GPM on negotiating the option to lease was Sydney real estate partner Samuel Brown and Brisbane real estate special counsel Damiano Castelli. 

Brown said: “K&L Gates is pleased to have assisted with this transformative project as part of Australia’s and NSW’s transition to greener and more stable and affordable energy solutions. Our work on this project, particularly led by Damiano Castelli, is an example of our focus and extensive capabilities on energy projects.”

GPM Managing Director Stephen Saladine said: “It is always a pleasure working with the team at K&L Gates, who were of great assistance in working through this complex process.”