How South Australia's grid-scale batteries performed in Q2 2026: energy and FCAS market revenue, $/MW, $/MWh, top performers, and price events.
South Australia (SA1) batteries earned $7.85M in estimated gross energy and FCAS market revenue in Q2 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 $6,939/MW and $4,202/MWh for the period.
Total revenue was down 79% on Q1 2026, which returned $36.55M. Per MW per day — which strips out both fleet growth and the length of the window — earnings were down 83% at $76/MW/day. Optimal capture slipped 31 points, from 62% to 31%.
Energy arbitrage supplied 88% of the total and FCAS 11%, with estimated Frequency Performance Payments contributing the remaining 1% ($102k). Within FCAS, regulation accounted for 58% and contingency 42%; the single largest market was raise regulation at $302k.
For context on the trading conditions, the average daily price spread (top two hours minus bottom two hours) in South Australia was $276/MWh, down 50% on the previous period, and the highest spot price reached $20,300/MWh.
Against the perfect-foresight energy benchmark, South Australia batteries captured 31% of what hindsight would have earned, an estimated $14.01M of unrealised upside.
On capture of the perfect-foresight energy benchmark, the strongest performers were Mannum Battery Energy Storage System (43%), Blyth Battery Energy Storage System (38%), Tailem Bend 2 Hybrid Renewable Power Station (37%). At the other end: Dalrymple North BESS (13%), Bungama Battery Energy Storage System (9%), Clements Gap BESS (8%) — capture reflects strategy, contracting and constraints as much as skill, so a low figure is not automatically underperformance.
The strongest single day was 21 Jun 2026 at $1.11M, and the best single battery-day was Mannum Battery Energy Storage System on 21 Jun 2026 with $359k. Revenue stays concentrated: five of the period's 91 days delivered 30% of everything South Australia batteries earned.
Blyth Battery Energy Storage System led the region with $1.95M. Full dispatch, state-of-charge and bidding detail is available on each battery's page.
South Australia saw 19 price events this period, the sharpest an extreme price event peaking at $20,300/MWh.
| Battery | Energy + FCAS | $/MW | $/MWh | Capture |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blyth Battery Energy Storage System | $1.95M | $9,757/MW | $4,879/MWh | 38% |
| Mannum Battery Energy Storage System | $1.49M | $15k/MW | $7,443/MWh | 43% |
| Torrens Island BESS | $1.38M | $5,540/MW | $5,540/MWh | 31% |
| Templers Battery Energy Storage System | $1.01M | $9,124/MW | $3,553/MWh | 30% |
| Hornsdale Power Reserve | $864k | $5,758/MW | $4,452/MWh | 31% |
| Tailem Bend 2 Hybrid Renewable Power Station | $428k | $10k/MW | $10k/MWh | 37% |
| Bungama Battery Energy Storage System | $336k | $2,240/MW | $1,120/MWh | 9% |
| Lake Bonney BESS1 | $253k | $10k/MW | $4,869/MWh | 29% |
| Adelaide Desalination Plant | $43k | $6,977/MW | $7,152/MWh | 28% |
| Happy Valley Water Treatment Plant | $28k | $6,978/MW | $6,978/MWh | 27% |
| Dalrymple North BESS | $26k | $861/MW | $2,118/MWh | 13% |
| Christies Beach Wastewater Treatment Plant | $16k | $7,655/MW | $8,190/MWh | 27% |
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 — Q2 2026South Australia battery fleetActual vs optimal dispatchMarket eventsHow capture is calculated
Explore: All insightsBattery fleetActual vs optimalPerformance rankingsMarket economicsMarket eventsBid stackBidding strategyVirtual power plantsHome battery potential (modelled)Project 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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