How South Australia's grid-scale batteries performed in September 2026: energy and FCAS market revenue, $/MW, $/MWh, top performers, and price events.
South Australia (SA1) batteries earned $3.62M in estimated gross energy and FCAS market revenue in September 2026, from 14 grid-scale units tracked by NEMPulse. Figures cover the full period.
Normalised across 1,131 MW and 1,868 MWh of registered capacity, the region earned $3,204/MW and $1,940/MWh for the period.
Total revenue was up 34% on August 2026, which returned $2.70M. Per MW per day — which strips out both fleet growth and the length of the window — earnings were up 22% at $107/MW/day. Optimal capture improved 12 points, from 41% to 53%.
Energy arbitrage supplied 95% of the total and FCAS 4%, with estimated Frequency Performance Payments contributing the remaining 1% ($28k). Within FCAS, regulation accounted for 68% and contingency 32%; the single largest market was raise regulation at $52k.
For context on the trading conditions, the average daily price spread (top two hours minus bottom two hours) in South Australia was $142/MWh, up 10% on the previous period, and the highest spot price reached $359/MWh.
Against the perfect-foresight energy benchmark, South Australia batteries captured 53% of what hindsight would have earned, an estimated $2.90M of unrealised upside.
On capture of the perfect-foresight energy benchmark, the strongest performers were Templers Battery Energy Storage System (70%), Happy Valley Water Treatment Plant (63%), Clements Gap BESS (62%). At the other end: Lake Bonney BESS1 (42%), Hornsdale Power Reserve (38%), Dalrymple North BESS (11%) — capture reflects strategy, contracting and constraints as much as skill, so a low figure is not automatically underperformance.
The strongest single day was 10 Sep 2026 at $253k, and the best single battery-day was Blyth Battery Energy Storage System on 16 Sep 2026 with $76k. Revenue stays concentrated: five of the period's 30 days delivered 31% of everything South Australia batteries earned.
Blyth Battery Energy Storage System led the region with $970k. Full dispatch, state-of-charge and bidding detail is available on each battery's page.
South Australia saw 14 price events this period, the sharpest negative pricing bottoming at $-295/MWh.
| Battery | Energy + FCAS | $/MW | $/MWh | Capture |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blyth Battery Energy Storage System | $970k | $4,849/MW | $2,425/MWh | 57% |
| Bungama Battery Energy Storage System | $770k | $5,134/MW | $2,567/MWh | 59% |
| Torrens Island BESS | $488k | $1,952/MW | $1,952/MWh | 47% |
| Mannum Battery Energy Storage System | $476k | $4,764/MW | $2,382/MWh | 57% |
| Clements Gap BESS | $320k | $5,335/MW | $2,668/MWh | 62% |
| Hornsdale Power Reserve | $257k | $1,714/MW | $1,325/MWh | 38% |
| Templers Battery Energy Storage System | $155k | $1,393/MW | $543/MWh | 70% |
| Lake Bonney BESS1 | $89k | $3,540/MW | $1,702/MWh | 42% |
| Tailem Bend 2 Hybrid Renewable Power Station | $87k | $2,111/MW | $2,111/MWh | 49% |
| Adelaide Desalination Plant | $19k | $3,157/MW | $3,236/MWh | 56% |
| Happy Valley Water Treatment Plant | $14k | $3,597/MW | $3,597/MWh | 63% |
| Bolivar Waste Water Treatment Plant | $7k | $3,720/MW | $3,720/MWh | — |
Capture = actual energy revenue as a share of the perfect-foresight LP benchmark; shown only for units with material modelled upside.
Keep reading: Previous period: August 2026NEM-wide wrap — September 2026South Australia battery fleetActual vs optimal dispatchMarket eventsHow capture is calculated
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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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