A Geelong campus is running a 100 kWh lead-acid battery - the Sydney factory copy is still a plan, 600 mm from the wall
The NZ Herald reported on 12 October 2026 that ArcActive's container at Deakin University's Waurn Ponds campus, and a second unit planned for an unnamed Sydney factory, are each 100 kWh. pv magazine Australia reported on 16 October that the Geelong pilot is switched on, inside a 7.25 MW microgrid, and connected to Origin's virtual power plant. No price and no savings figure are published.
A small battery is running on a university energy system in Geelong. For a factory, the useful question is not the chemistry slogan. It is whether the box can sit near the building, and what that permission adds to the bill.
On 12 October 2026 the NZ Herald reported that ArcActive, a Christchurch company, had delivered its first commercial container to Deakin University. The Herald says that unit, and a second one planned for a Sydney factory, are each 100 kilowatt-hours. ArcActive's own project note says a pilot container is operating at the Waurn Ponds campus with Origin Zero. That note does not print the 100 kWh.
The Herald calls the site "Melbourne's Deakin University". The campus in the Australian reports is Waurn Ponds, in Geelong. Same university. Different city label. pv magazine Australia, on 16 October, said the pilot is switched on at the Waurn Ponds battery testing facility, on a 7.25 MW microgrid, with Origin Zero, and connected to Origin's virtual power plant. Energy Source & Distribution reported it operating on 15 October. The 7.25 MW is the microgrid. It is not the ArcActive battery.
kWh is how much the box holds. kW is how hard it can push. Think of kWh as the tank and kW as the tap. The Herald gives the tank: 100 kWh. It does not give the tap. These pages do not say how many hours the battery can run flat out.
The product goal in that Herald piece is a 1 megawatt-hour container. Later in the same piece, the fundraising line calls the later product a 1 MW system. A megawatt-hour and a megawatt are not the same unit. The pilots are the 100 kWh size. They are not that later product.
The Sydney job is a different site, and it is not in yet. Stuart McKenzie, ArcActive's chief executive, told the Herald the container will be installed 600 mm from the building at an unnamed manufacturing facility. He said the gap is there so filters can be changed. He said the customer has not had to pay for new hydrants, blast walls or firewalls, and he called the approval "cookie cutter". The factory is not named. The approval paper and the insurance schedule are not in the public reports.
McKenzie also gave the Herald a picture of the insurance problem. In commercial work, "you might have a $500,000 battery close to a $20 million building". That is his example. It is not the price of the Geelong unit, and it is not the price of the Sydney unit. No system price and no yearly saving is published for either site.
On fire, read the whole interview. McKenzie said the lead-acid batteries "literally can't burn", unlike lithium-based ones. In the same conversation he said only the plastic casing can catch alight, if it is not fireproofed, and that the batteries can leak hydrogen, which can explode if there is a spark.
ArcActive's October 2026 white paper sets a design-life target of 5,000 cycles at 80% depth of discharge. The paper says testing and validation are continuing. A target on a product sheet is not a result from this pilot.
Analogy: it is a water tank beside the loading dock. The litres are published. The width of the tap is not. The line that can move the bill is the insurer and the fire crew, not the tank alone.
Good: A named campus, a named 100 kWh from the interview, a named network partner, and a plain split between the battery price and the fire-and-insurance works around it.
Bad: The Sydney factory is unnamed and still ahead. No kilowatts, so no hours. No price. No savings. Deakin is a test microgrid, not a warehouse shift or a food plant.
Ugly: Keeping "can't burn" and dropping the plastic and the hydrogen. Treating 5,000 cycles as a finished test. Treating 7.25 MW as the battery. Treating $500,000 as this invoice. Treating a 100 kWh pilot as the 1 MWh product. The 100 kWh is in the Herald. It is not on ArcActive's own campus note.
Soft next step: if a quote for a battery next to a work building leaves a blank where the fire walls, hydrants and insurance premium go, fill that blank before comparing cell prices. Then a short consult at Sovryn Energy /consult if you want that shape read against the bill.
Source: NZ Herald, Chris Keall, 12 Oct 2026 - Christchurch firm develops new type of solar battery, installs it for big Australian customer. Primary for the 100 kWh on both the Deakin container and the planned Sydney unit, the 1 MWh container goal, the later "1 MW system" wording, the 600 mm gap, the unnamed manufacturing customer, no new hydrants, blast walls or firewalls, the "cookie cutter" approval line, the $500,000 / $20 million example, and the "can't burn" line with the plastic-casing and hydrogen caveats. pv magazine Australia, Ev Foley, 16 Oct 2026 - Lead-acid battery pilot switched on at Victorian university testing facility. Primary for switched-on status, Waurn Ponds, the 7.25 MW microgrid testing facility, Origin Zero, and connection to Origin's virtual power plant. Energy Source & Distribution, 15 Oct 2026 - Geelong battery pilot aims to cut business power bills. Corroborates that the pilot was operating at Waurn Ponds with Origin. Does not give a kWh size. ArcActive, Deakin University Pilot. Company note that the first pilot-scale container is operating at Waurn Ponds with Origin Zero. No kWh, no price, no savings. ArcActive white paper, October 2026 - ArcActive and the Missing Middle in Energy Storage. Primary for the design-life target of 5,000 cycles at 80% depth of discharge, and for the line that testing and validation are continuing.