Energy Vault completes land acquisition for its 125 MW / 1 GWh Stoney Creek BESS in New South Wales

Energy Vault has completed the acquisition of the land underlying its 125 MW / 1 GWh Stoney Creek battery energy storage system (BESS) in northern New South Wales, converting the site from a lease arrangement to full freehold ownership after receiving approval from Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB)^[1]. Construction is now expected to begin in the first quarter of 2027, with commercial operations targeted for the first half of 2028^[1].

Site control secured

The project is located near Narrabri, NSW, adjacent to Transgrid's Narrabri substation, which allows grid connection with minimal additional infrastructure. The previous lease arrangement had left a residual development risk on the project; full ownership removes that exposure and gives Energy Vault direct control over construction scheduling and long-term site operations^[1].

FIRB approval was required because Energy Vault is a NYSE-listed company headquartered in Westlake Village, California. The board's sign-off completes the formal regulatory step needed to convert the leasehold into freehold title^[1].

Revenue underpinning and project economics

Stoney Creek holds a 14-year Long-Term Energy Service Agreement (LTESA) awarded by AEMO Services under the NSW Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap's Round 5 tender for long-duration storage^[1]. The LTESA is structured as a revenue floor mechanism - topping up net operational revenues to a contracted minimum - rather than a fixed-price contract, which means Energy Vault retains upside exposure to wholesale market prices while limiting downside risk.

Energy Vault expects the agreement to generate approximately $25 million to $30 million in annual long-term revenue^[1]. The project's construction value was previously disclosed at USD $220 million (AUD $350 million).

Key project parameters:

• Capacity: 125 MW / 1,000 MWh
• Discharge duration: 8 hours
• LTESA term: 14 years
• Construction start: Q1 2027 (expected)
• Commercial operations: H1 2028 (subject to final approvals)
• Energy management: VaultOS platform^[1]

Build, own and operate strategy

Stoney Creek sits within Energy Vault's Build, Own & Operate model, under which the company develops and retains long-term ownership of energy infrastructure rather than selling projects at or near completion. The company describes Stoney Creek as one of the first non-US assets in that owned portfolio, and says it is currently executing on over 2.6 GWh of energy storage projects across eastern Australia.

Energy Vault plans to use its VaultOS energy management platform to optimise the battery's dispatch, market participation, and lifecycle performance^[1]. The B-VAULT product at the core of the system carries UL9540 and AS3000 certification.

The NSW grid context matters here. The state's Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap has a legislated minimum objective of 2 GW of long-duration storage (eight hours or more) by 2030. LTESA Round 6, awarded in February 2026, contracted a further 1,171 MW / 11,980 MWh across six battery projects, bringing NSW to that 2030 target. Stoney Creek, awarded under Round 5, is part of the earlier tranche that helped build toward that total.

The next milestone to watch is financial close, which Energy Vault has not yet publicly dated. Progress toward that step - alongside any update on grid connection agreements with Transgrid - will determine whether the Q1 2027 construction start holds.