The 2024–25 summer was a season of extremes for the National Electricity Market — and a proving ground for smart, flexible energy systems. At an industrial site in New South Wales, a 1 MW / 1 MWh battery operated under PowerSync’s orchestration platform, providing continuous, real-time value across both market and site operations.
Through a combination of wholesale market participation, FCAS enablement, and local demand management, the battery didn’t just reduce costs — it actively supported the grid while improving site resilience. This is what multi-market optimisation looks like in practice.
NSW Market Conditions – Summer Snapshot
December, January and February brought record heat, surging demand, and major price volatility in NSW:
- Multiple dispatch intervals hit or approached the Market Price Cap ($16,600/MWh).
- Spot price swings regularly moved between overnight lows below $50/MWh and daytime peaks exceeding $10,000/MWh within hours.
- AEMO issued Lack of Reserve (LOR1) notices, flagging increasingly tight supply conditions.
- Thermal generator outages and high air-conditioning load added further instability across the state.
Battery Operations On-Site: Market & Facility Benefits
The industrial site’s 1 MW / 1 MWh battery was integrated into PowerSync’s multi-market platform — enabling it to dynamically respond to both market signals and internal site conditions.
On the wholesale market side, the battery:
- Charged during low-price periods, typically overnight or during midday solar abundance.
- Discharged during high-value dispatch intervals, including major price events in January and February, supporting grid reliability.
- Participated in frequency control markets, automatically responding to grid frequency events.
Behind the meter, the battery:
- Offset peak site demand during afternoon high-load periods, helping the site avoid costly peak demand charges.
- Reduced draw from the grid during critical high-price intervals, maintaining operations while improving the site’s energy profile.
- Acted as a buffer during minor grid disturbances, improving energy resilience for plant operations.
All of this was achieved without manual intervention — the PowerSync platform managed dispatch priorities across all value streams, optimising the battery’s performance every five minutes.
Multi-Market Technology: One Asset, Many Roles
The real difference wasn’t just the battery — it was the software.
PowerSync’s orchestration platform made it possible to stack value streams in real time:
- Wholesale arbitrage: Optimising charge/discharge based on price forecasts and live 5-minute pricing.
- FCAS participation: Automatically enabling and responding to contingency raise/lower services when available.
- Site demand control: Monitoring facility consumption and discharging to cap site peaks during contracted peak periods.
Each of these use cases required careful prioritisation and compliance — something that’s impossible without a technology platform that can integrate with market systems, site loads, and network constraints.
What the Battery Achieved Over Summer
While exact revenue and savings outcomes are commercially confidential, operationally the battery achieved:
- Participation in all major NSW price spike events, including Market Price Cap intervals in January and February.
- Frequent discharge events aligned with FCAS enablement, particularly during grid frequency deviations.
- Consistent use of stored energy to flatten site demand peaks, reducing maximum demand exposure for the industrial customer.
- Zero performance or compliance issues, with full AEMO integration via PowerSync’s compliant bidding stack.
Why It Matters
The 2024–25 summer showed us what the future looks like: high renewables, tighter capacity margins, and rising volatility. But it also showed that the solution doesn’t have to come from large-scale supply alone.
At this NSW industrial site, one megawatt of intelligently orchestrated storage:
- Stabilised the grid during critical moments,
- Delivered real economic value across multiple markets,
- And reduced the site’s exposure to volatility and peak charges — all through automation.
This is what happens when software, storage, and strategy come together.