NSW Upper Hunter landscape | Image: North Harbour

Investment firm Washington H. Soul Pattinson has taken a one-third stake in North Harbour Clean Energy, investing AUD $40 million (USD 26 million) and securing one or two board seats.

The Australian Financial Review reported Soul Patts, a long-running Australian investment house with holdings across resources, healthcare, and infrastructure, is backing North Harbour’s first two grid-scale battery projects in New South Wales, a 400 MW system in Aberdeen and another south of Tamworth, together worth about $800 million.

Each project is expected to need around $180 million in equity, with the rest financed through debt. Financial close is targeted from mid-2026, with super funds expected to participate at that stage.

Both are located north-west of Sydney, with Aberdeen close to existing coal fired power station Bayswater, and closed plant Liddell, in the heart of coal-mining country. Tamworth is a regional center situated on the Peel River.

North Harbour is also developing pumped hydro, and watching flow battery technologies but says lithium-ion remains its focus for now as long-duration technology scales.