Quinbrook’s Supernode battery energy storage project in Queensland has reached commercial operations for its second stage, while the third stage has secured A$469 million in financing, advancing development of what is expected to become Australia’s largest operational battery storage campus.
Located at Brendale, north of Brisbane, Supernode will reach 780 MW/3,074 MWh across its first three stages, with the broader project planned to exceed 3 GWh. Financing for the first three stages now totals about A$1.2 billion.
Stage 3’s financial close comes as Queensland expands infrastructure investment to support the transition to a more renewable electricity system. Supernode’s location beside the South Pine substation, a major connection point in the state’s network, provides access to significant grid capacity and supports potential future expansion.
All three stages are covered by long-term offtake arrangements. CATL is supplying the battery systems, with EnerC Plus used for the first two stages and TENER S selected for Stage 3. CATL will also provide long-term service support, including monitoring, performance tracking, fault response and preventative maintenance.
The completion of Stage 2 is particularly significant for Quinbrook because it means both stages contracted to Origin Energy have now entered commercial operations on schedule.
“Achieving commercial operations for Stage 2 means we’ve successfully delivered both Origin-contracted stages on schedule,” said Tim Horneman, managing director and regional lead for Australia at Quinbrook. He said the achievement was notable given “the complexity of commissioning utility-scale battery storage projects in Australia.”
The continued use of CATL across the first three stages highlights the growing importance of lifecycle performance as battery projects scale up and operate over longer periods. CATL says its EnerC Plus configuration can reduce site requirements by around 20% compared with its earlier EnerC system.
Tan Libin, CATL’s chief commercial officer and co-president of sales and marketing, said energy storage was evolving beyond “a standalone technology deployment” into “a strategic energy asset”.
Quinbrook and CATL are also assessing CATL’s eight-hour EnerQB system for potential future phases of Supernode.
