NSW cleared a 125 MW / 1,000 MWh eight-hour battery near Narrabri - Energy Vault owns it, Enervest delivers, LTESA runs 14 years
Energy Vault's Stoney Creek battery near Narrabri has NSW planning approval: 125 MW / 1,000 MWh, eight hours of storage, Enervest to deliver, a 14-year LTESA through AEMO Services. Site works aimed at Q4 2026, commercial ops H1 2028. Hours matter here — this is a long grid box with a state contract, not a four-hour warehouse quote.
New South Wales just ticked the planning box on a one-gigawatt-hour battery in the state's north.
PV Magazine Australia (1 Oct 2026) reports that Energy Vault's 125 MW / 1,000 MWh Stoney Creek Battery Energy Storage System near Narrabri has state government planning approval. That clears the way to start construction. Enervest, an Australian BESS delivery specialist, will develop it. About 191 containerised lithium-ion units and 64 inverters are planned. The project connects to the nearby Narrabri 132/66 kV substation. Site works and mobilisation are expected in Q4 2026, with commercial operations in the first half of 2028.
The duration is the headline for a buyer. One thousand megawatt-hours behind 125 megawatts is eight hours at full output. Most of the grid batteries you hear about in Australia are four-hour machines. Eight hours is a different animal — more like a long night-shift tank than a short evening top-up.
Money side, as reported: the project holds a 14-year Long-Term Energy Service Agreement (LTESA) awarded through AEMO Services under the NSW Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap. PV Magazine Australia says the LTESA plus anticipated merchant revenues are expected to support about $36–43 million a year in recurring revenue once the plant is running. That is the developer's claimed revenue stack, not a price a factory pays for a rooftop battery.
First, the terms. An LTESA is a long government-backed energy service contract for big NSW infrastructure. It is not a small-business rebate and not a quote for a warehouse. Think of it as a long booking for a power station–scale battery, written so banks will fund the build.
Analogy: a four-hour battery is a thermos that keeps the afternoon coffee warm through dinner. An eight-hour battery is the big urn that still has a pour left at the start of the night shift. Same idea — hold power and give it back later — different size of jug.
Workplace meaning. If you are buying a site battery, ask how many hours you need after the sun drops, not only how many kilowatts of inverter. A four-hour box sized for the evening peak will not cover a plant that runs until midnight unless something else fills in. Stoney Creek's eight-hour design is for the grid, with a 14-year state contract behind it. Your meter is a different brief.
Good: Planning approval, MW/MWh, eight-hour duration, delivery partner, connection point, schedule, and LTESA length are all published. Buyers can see that long-duration storage is what this NSW ticket cleared.
Bad: This is utility-scale storage near Narrabri, not a commercial rooftop. The $36–43 million a year figure is claimed recurring revenue for the owner once operational, not a saving on any factory bill. COD is still H1 2028 — approval is not switch-on.
Ugly: We are working from PV Magazine Australia's 1 Oct report and the company quotes in it. We will not invent a cents-per-kWh saving for a workplace. None of these sources publish one for a commercial roof.
Soft next step: if you are weighing how many hours of battery your site needs versus a four-hour brochure quote, start with when your meters stay high after dark. Then a short consult at Sovryn Energy /consult if you want that shape read against your load.
Source: Ev Foley, PV Magazine Australia, 1 Oct 2026 - 1GWh battery energy storage system gets green tick to start construction in NSW. Reports NSW planning approval for Energy Vault-owned Stoney Creek 125 MW / 1,000 MWh (8-hour) BESS near Narrabri; Enervest delivery; ~191 Li-ion containers + 64 inverters; Narrabri 132/66 kV connection; Q4 2026 site works; COD H1 2028; 14-year LTESA via AEMO Services; claimed ~$36–43m (USD $25–30m) annual recurring revenue once operational. Secondary trade reporting of company/government milestones.