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 $7.91M 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 $6,989/MW and $4,232/MWh for the period.
Total revenue was down 78% on Q1 2026, which returned $36.69M. Per MW per day — which strips out both fleet growth and the length of the window — earnings were down 81% at $77/MW/day. Optimal capture slipped 30 points, from 62% to 32%.
Energy arbitrage supplied 88% of the total and FCAS 11%, with estimated Frequency Performance Payments adding $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 32% of what hindsight would have earned, an estimated $14.29M of unrealised upside.
On capture of the perfect-foresight energy benchmark, the strongest performers were Mannum Battery Energy Storage System (52%), Tailem Bend 2 Hybrid Renewable Power Station (44%), Christies Beach Wastewater Treatment Plant (43%). At the other end: Blyth Battery Energy Storage System (29%), Bungama Battery Energy Storage System (10%), Clements Gap BESS (4%) — 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 $1.70M, and the best single battery-day was Mannum Battery Energy Storage System on 21 Jun 2026 with $474k. Revenue stays concentrated: five of the period's 91 days delivered 38% of everything South Australia batteries earned.
Mannum Battery Energy Storage System led the region with $1.79M. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mannum Battery Energy Storage System | $1.79M | $18k/MW | $8,950/MWh | 52% |
| Blyth Battery Energy Storage System | $1.52M | $7,611/MW | $3,806/MWh | 29% |
| Torrens Island BESS | $1.33M | $5,311/MW | $5,311/MWh | 30% |
| Templers Battery Energy Storage System | $1.06M | $9,571/MW | $3,728/MWh | 32% |
| Hornsdale Power Reserve | $870k | $5,801/MW | $4,485/MWh | 31% |
| Tailem Bend 2 Hybrid Renewable Power Station | $482k | $12k/MW | $12k/MWh | 44% |
| Bungama Battery Energy Storage System | $359k | $2,394/MW | $1,197/MWh | 10% |
| Lake Bonney BESS1 | $287k | $11k/MW | $5,517/MWh | 34% |
| Dalrymple North BESS | $64k | $2,141/MW | $5,264/MWh | 32% |
| Adelaide Desalination Plant | $45k | $7,311/MW | $7,494/MWh | 33% |
| Happy Valley Water Treatment Plant | $31k | $7,779/MW | $7,779/MWh | 38% |
| Clements Gap BESS | $29k | $477/MW | $238/MWh | 4% |
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: Q1 2026NEM-wide wrap — Q2 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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