Electricity Industry Participation Code (Wholesale market arrangements for battery energy storage systems) Amendment 2026

This amendment to the Electricity Industry Participation Code 2010 comes into force on 30 October 2026.

The amendment amends Parts 1, 8, 13 and 15 of the Code to improve wholesale market arrangements for utility-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS) by:

a. requiring BESS to be dispatchable while consuming as well as while generating;

b. as an interim measure, allowing BESS owners to trade based on the expected capability of the BESS station and update offer and bid quantities after gate closure if that expected capability changes;

c. as part of the final phase of the amendment (to come into effect on 31 March 2028), allowing BESS owners to trade their full capacity, with state of charge constraints acting to limit consumption and generation to what is achievable given the level of stored energy in the BESS station; and

d. as part of the final phase of the amendment, requiring BESS owners to submit offers and bids using a single trade form and receive a single dispatch for their BESS station.