Genesis Energy officially opened a grid-scale battery at Huntly Power Station, on New Zealand’s North Island, on October 15. The 100-megawatt system stores 200 megawatt-hours, which the company says is enough to power 60,000 homes for two hours. Tukoroirangi Morgan, chair of Te Arataura, the executive body of Waikato-Tainui, joined Genesis chief executive Malcolm Johns at the ribbon-cutting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to Genesis, the battery cost around NZ$130 million, or about US$73 million at current exchange rates. It came in more than NZ$5 million under budget, and the company calls it the cheapest battery built in New Zealand to date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Saft’s 2024 announcement called Huntly the single largest electricity generation site in New Zealand. Rows of white battery containers now fill a paved lot below its cooling towers and chimneys. The French manufacturer supplied the 70 units, and Northpower installed them, Genesis said in its opening announcement<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When Saft won the contract in September 2024, its contract announcement<\/a> described a turnkey system built on its Intensium Shift+ lithium-ion containers, with power conversion and controls included. Tracey Hickman, then Genesis’s chief wholesale officer, said at the time: “We were impressed by Saft’s competitive offer and track-record in delivering utility scale BESS projects in New Zealand.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Earlier this year, crews hauled a 172-ton transformer to the old power plant<\/a> from the Port of Auckland. That unit raises the battery’s voltage so it can enter the transmission network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The battery connects to the national grid through the Transpower substation on the Huntly site. “This connection makes Huntly ideal for installing grid-scale batteries,” said Hickman, who is now Genesis’s chief operating officer. She also pointed to the site’s closeness to “the high-demand centres of Hamilton, Auckland and Tauranga.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like any grid battery, Huntly’s system comes with two ratings. The 100 megawatts is its power, or how fast it can push electricity into the grid. The 200 megawatt-hours is the total energy it holds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dividing energy by power gives the duration, so at full output the battery runs for about two hours before it needs recharging, and it can last longer at lower output.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The 60,000-home figure is Genesis’s own estimate, and real household use swings with weather and appliances. The comparison pictures the size of the system and is not a count of homes on backup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hickman said the battery adds flexibility and will help support the electricity system during periods of high demand. “The BESS can be turned on almost immediately, making it the fastest-starting asset at Huntly Power Station,” she said. Genesis gave no response time in seconds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some operators do give a figure, and a large battery in Ireland was presented as able to switch on in a tenth of a second<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Genesis also links the battery to the solar farms it is building, including one at Rangiriri, just north of Huntly. Batteries can store daytime solar energy and release it when demand peaks, the company says. In New Zealand, Genesis notes, those peaks often fall on cold mornings or evenings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shifting energy in time has a cost, as the U.S. Energy Information Administration explains in its guide to electricity storage<\/a>. Storage systems use more electricity than they return, losing some energy on every cycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Spread over its storage capacity, the price works out to roughly NZ$650 per kilowatt-hour. That is about US$365 at current exchange rates. It measures the upfront cost of the system, not what any household pays for power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Building at an existing power plant can save on land and grid work. Minnesota followed the same idea with its Boswell solar project at a coal-fired site<\/a>, which took over the old plant’s grid connection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The claim of being the cheapest battery in the country comes from Genesis itself. Comparisons are tricky, because equipment, land and grid work vary from site to site. Few companies publish their costs in the same way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Genesis made its final investment decision on a second, identical battery on April 17, 2026. In a filing to the NZX stock exchange<\/a>, it put the estimated cost at about NZ$106 million, or roughly US$60 million. Saft will again supply and service the system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That is about NZ$24 million less than the first stage. The company says the second battery will reuse land, infrastructure and the grid connection, along with shared plant from the first one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Construction is due to start in late 2026, with full operation planned for 2028. Together, the two systems would reach 200 megawatts and 400 megawatt-hours. Genesis says that would power about 120,000 homes for two hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The duration stays at two hours because power and storage both double. “BESS provides fast-response capability that is increasingly important as the generation mix evolves,” Hickman said in the April filing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Huntly remains a coal- and gas-fired station, and the battery does not replace those units. Genesis says its wider growth plan aims to displace baseload gas generation. No date for burning less coal or gas at Huntly came with the battery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A two-hour battery also cannot carry the grid through a long shortfall, such as a dry spell that cuts hydropower for weeks. Other designs aim for longer runs, like the molten-salt tanks at Morocco’s Noor solar complex<\/a>, built to keep power flowing after sunset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Genesis has not said how often the Huntly battery will run or how much it will earn. Its first winter peaks and calm, cloudy days will show how much the grid leans on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The official details come from Genesis Energy’s opening announcement of October 2026 and its April 2026 filing on the second stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Photo: Genesis Energy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Genesis Energy officially opened a grid-scale battery at Huntly Power Station, on New Zealand’s North Island, on October 15. The … <\/p>\n100 megawatts for two hours<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Cold mornings and still days<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
NZ$130 million, under budget<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A second battery for NZ$106 million<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Coal and gas still run Huntly<\/h2>\n\n\n\n