HiTHIUM has signed a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) supply agreement with Global Power Generation (GPG), the international renewables arm of Spain's Naturgy Group, to deliver a 421 MWh battery for the Fraser Coast project on Queensland's mid-north coast. The August 12, 2026 deal is the first utility-scale collaboration between the two companies.
Scope of supply
HiTHIUM will provide 84 liquid-cooled BESS units for the project along with system design, manufacturing, factory acceptance testing, DDP delivery, commissioning, technical support and training. The Chinese storage specialist positions itself as a full-service partner rather than a pure hardware vendor, covering the entire lifecycle from engineering through operations.
Grid-forming from day one
The Fraser Coast BESS is AC-coupled and ties into the 33 kV switchgear of an adjacent solar farm, allowing it to charge from either the co-located generator or the wider grid. It ships with grid-forming inverters — meaning it can actively shape voltage and frequency rather than just following the network — and will provide two primary services: energy arbitrage across time-of-day price spreads and Frequency Control Ancillary Services (FCAS) to the Queensland grid.
Australia's storage boom
HiTHIUM described Australia as one of the world's most dynamic energy-storage markets, driven by rising solar and wind penetration and by regulators paying premium prices for fast frequency response. The Fraser Coast deal joins a wave of recent Australian BESS wins including LG Energy Solution's Megapack 3 supply and EDP's Sandrini BESS, and follows HiTHIUM's July 2026 €81M Navarre gigafactory grant in Spain.
Wider strategy
GPG's move into batteries mirrors European utility group Naturgy's push to expand beyond thermal and hydro into flexible renewable assets. For HiTHIUM, the win reinforces its strategy of chasing utility-scale, grid-forming projects — a segment where Chinese vendors are increasingly competing with Fluence, Tesla Megapack and Wärtsilä for tender wins.
Reporting based on coverage from PR Newswire, Blackridge Research and Manila Times.