Previous Agenda

• How do Australian operators decide when to prioritise battery degradation management versus capturing high-value FCAS and energy arbitrage opportunities, particularly during extreme pricing events that can reach $16,600/MWh?
• What does absorbing merchant risk mean for Australian BESS operators in a market with volatile renewable penetration, and how do you manage exposure to negative pricing events while maintaining 24-hour availability commitments?
• How do operators communicate real-time asset health constraints and cycling limitations to trading desks without compromising revenue opportunities in Australia's fast-moving ancillary services markets?
• What operational indicators do Australian BESS operators rely on to detect performance degradation before it impacts FCAS compliance or energy market participation, and where do current monitoring systems fall short?
• Why do revenue forecasts often miss the mark in Australia's evolving energy landscape, and what operational realities around battery performance, grid constraints, and market rule changes are causing the biggest gaps between financial models and actual returns?

• As Australia’s operational battery fleet rapidly expands, what does the market look like today? Where are we seeing the biggest shifts in project scale, ownership, contracting structures, revenue strategies and operating models, and what does this tell us about the maturity of the sector?
• What is the operating fleet revealing that development and financial models couldn’t? From performance and availability to warranties, service agreements, maintenance and revenue expectations, how is real-world experience changing assumptions around what makes a commercially successful battery project?
• Looking across the lessons emerging from Australia’s operating assets, what comes next for the market? How should developers, investors, lenders and asset owners be adapting project design, procurement, financing and operational strategies as the fleet grows and the market becomes increasingly competitive?

As BESS fleets grow, asset teams are being asked to manage far more complexity without adding people at the same rate. Shyam Srinivasan, EVP, BESS Software at Elysia Battery Intelligence (A Fortescue Zero Company), will share field examples of the issues that make battery performance so difficult to manage, including hidden availability losses, sudden power setpoint deviations, inaccurate SoC and power signals, and block imbalance that quietly strands usable capacity.

The session will show how Elysia BESS Copilot combines cloud diagnostics with real-time on-premise intelligence to identify root causes faster, improve the signals operators rely on, and guide corrective action, helping asset managers recover performance and manage more GWh with the teams they already have.

BESS returns are only as good as the assumption that assets perform the way contracts and warranties promise. ACCURE's independent monitoring across more than 50 projects, over 10 GWh of capacity and 7.5 million readings, shows they often don't: sites running below contracted availability, delivering less energy than capacity tests implied, and running on thinner margin over nameplate than most financial models assume. Alan Coller, Head of APAC and MEA at ACCURE Battery Intelligence, unpacks what these gaps mean for lenders and investors backing BESS assets in Australia and across the region, and how clearer visibility into real performance translates into sharper risk pricing and more predictable returns.

Price spikes and volatility events drive a material portion of BESS revenues in the NEM. The critical question: why do some assets capture significantly more value during these events than others? PortfolioEnergy reveals how stochastic mathematical optimisation delivers substantial outperformance over comparable utility-scale assets across the NEM. Using real AEMO data from live shadow trading, this session explores the strategic principles behind superior event capture: optimal state-of-charge positioning for price spikes that may or may not materialise, and allocating volumes into price bands such that clearing value across multiple scenarios is maximised. The result: market-leading annualised revenues driven by consistently extracting more value from high-volatility events. Unlike human intervention, stochastic optimisation removes subjectivity and consistently maximises expected value across thousands of dispatch decisions. Attendees will gain actionable insights into the algorithmic approach that becomes the key differentiator as markets mature — without compromising proprietary methodology.

• How does the 38% cost increase in synchronous condenser delivery change the economic case for grid-forming battery storage in Australia?
• How do grid-forming inverters need to perform to meet minimum system strength requirements, not just the efficiency level?
• Who decides whether grid-forming BESS is technically credible enough to replace synchronous machines, and what evidence are they looking for?
• How does grid-forming capability inform the design and operation of hybrid and collocated sites, including large loads such as data centres and long-duration storage?
• How are early grid-forming projects informing commissioning and operational practice for the assets coming next?
• Who bears the cost and risk if grid-forming batteries can't be validated in time to offset delayed condenser delivery?

• How do warranties interact with battery performance and operation, and what does good practice look like?
• What opportunities exist to standardise warranty processes for smoother, more predictable asset operation?
• How are OEM warranty frameworks shaping best-practice asset management?
• Why does insurance matter for BESS assets, and what coverage options and innovations are emerging in the market?
• As an asset manager, what does strong contract execution and stakeholder alignment look like across all parties?

• How can risks be mitigated, and what is the vital consideration with your battery?
• How can you look after your battery once it’s been installed?
• How should you consider site security and site protection?
• How are safe systems of work being implemented to ensure those on the ground are protected from risks?
• How are developers navigating stringent safety measures?