How South Australia's grid-scale batteries performed in May 2026: energy and FCAS market revenue, $/MW, $/MWh, top performers, and price events.
South Australia (SA1) batteries earned $1.03M in estimated gross energy and FCAS market revenue in May 2026, from 12 grid-scale units tracked by NEMPulse. Figures cover the full period.
Normalised across 1,041 MW and 1,736 MWh of registered capacity, the region earned $988/MW and $593/MWh for the period.
Total revenue was down 63% on April 2026, which returned $2.77M. Per MW per day — which strips out both fleet growth and the length of the window — earnings were down 61% at $32/MW/day. Optimal capture slipped 27 points, from 41% to 15%.
Energy arbitrage supplied 71% of the total and FCAS 25%, with estimated Frequency Performance Payments adding $41k. Within FCAS, regulation accounted for 82% and contingency 18%; the single largest market was raise regulation at $135k.
For context on the trading conditions, the average daily price spread (top two hours minus bottom two hours) in South Australia was $106/MWh, down 31% on the previous period, and the highest spot price reached $349/MWh.
Against the perfect-foresight energy benchmark, South Australia batteries captured 15% of what hindsight would have earned, an estimated $3.70M of unrealised upside.
On capture of the perfect-foresight energy benchmark, the strongest performers were Lake Bonney BESS1 (24%), Mannum Battery Energy Storage System (23%), Blyth Battery Energy Storage System (21%). At the other end: Happy Valley Water Treatment Plant (-10%), Adelaide Desalination Plant (-17%), Clements Gap BESS (-109%) — capture reflects strategy, contracting and constraints as much as skill, so a low figure is not automatically underperformance.
The strongest single day was 28 May 2026 at $141k, and the best single battery-day was Blyth Battery Energy Storage System on 28 May 2026 with $50k. Revenue stays concentrated: five of the period's 31 days delivered 54% of everything South Australia batteries earned.
Blyth Battery Energy Storage System led the region with $360k. Full dispatch, state-of-charge and bidding detail is available on each battery's page.
| Battery | Energy + FCAS | $/MW | $/MWh | Capture |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blyth Battery Energy Storage System | $360k | $1,802/MW | $901/MWh | 21% |
| Templers Battery Energy Storage System | $171k | $1,543/MW | $601/MWh | 19% |
| Mannum Battery Energy Storage System | $145k | $1,449/MW | $725/MWh | 23% |
| Torrens Island BESS | $119k | $474/MW | $474/MWh | 6% |
| Bungama Battery Energy Storage System | $117k | $783/MW | $392/MWh | 17% |
| Tailem Bend 2 Hybrid Renewable Power Station | $45k | $1,107/MW | $1,107/MWh | -0% |
| Lake Bonney BESS1 | $44k | $1,780/MW | $856/MWh | 24% |
| Hornsdale Power Reserve | $41k | $272/MW | $211/MWh | 3% |
| Adelaide Desalination Plant | $3k | $465/MW | $477/MWh | -17% |
| Happy Valley Water Treatment Plant | $2k | $526/MW | $526/MWh | -10% |
| Christies Beach Wastewater Treatment Plant | $1k | $687/MW | $735/MWh | — |
| Bolivar Waste Water Treatment Plant | $764 | $382/MW | $382/MWh | — |
Capture = actual energy revenue as a share of the perfect-foresight LP benchmark; shown only for units with material modelled upside.
Keep reading: NEM-wide wrap — May 2026South Australia battery fleetActual vs optimal dispatchMarket eventsHow capture is calculated
Explore: All insightsBattery fleetActual vs optimalPerformance rankingsMarket economicsMarket eventsBid stackBidding strategyVirtual power plantsProject simulatorAskPulseEmail alerts
Automatically generated from AEMO public data using fixed templates (not AI-written). Figures are estimated gross market revenue (energy + FCAS) from dispatch — they exclude contracts, hedges and network-support schemes (e.g. SIPS), so actual commercial revenue will differ.
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