Much-hyped Big Canberra Battery finds an owner as ACT government spruiks benefits to energy security

The Big Canberra Battery will have more capacity than South Australia's 150 megawatt Hornsdale battery. (ABC News: Lincoln Rothall)

The Big Canberra Battery has inched a step closer to being built, with the ACT government announcing it will partner with Eku Energy to deliver the mass-energy storage device.

Eku Energy will design, build, run, and ultimately own the 250-megawatt battery, which will be located at Williamsdale, south of the Tuggeranong town centre.

The government's investment in the project will see it share risk, as well as the financial returns from feeding energy into the National Energy Market.

Expected to be online in 2025, the battery energy storage system will cost between $300 million and $400 million and could hold enough energy to power one-third of Canberra for two hours during peak demand.

Chief Minister Andrew Barr has signed a partnership with Eku Energy's Daniel Burrows for the Big Canberra Battery. (ABC News: Patrick Bell)

"During heat waves or really cold periods where energy demand increases, certainly if a major generator was out of action and there was a need for an instant boost into the energy supply, then these sorts of batteries can deliver that in milliseconds," Chief Minister Andrew Barr said.

"We are contributing to what is really a national effort to improve battery storage, dispatchable power and to seek to provide more energy security for our nation."

Mr Barr said the objectives of the project were threefold:

• To shore up energy security, particularly in times of heatwaves and cold snaps
• To further develop the renewable energy sector in the ACT economy, including jobs creation
• And to deliver a financial return to the territory's budget

"This is not going to solve all of the territory's future budget issues, but it will make a positive contribution to the territory's bottom line," Mr Barr said.

"Clearly the capacity … to sell back into the market when there's very high demand and prices are spiking means there is a revenue upside."

Mr Barr also used the update to again spruik the ACT's renewable energy credentials, saying that other jurisdictions may look to the territory's partnership with Eku Energy and decide to invest in similar mass renewable energy storage projects.

Eku Energy Asia Pacific director and chief investment officer Daniel Burrows said he was "proud and humbled" to be responsible for the delivery of the Big Canberra Battery.

"We look forward to delivering safe, secure and reliable energy to the grid," Mr Burrows said.