Genesis Energy (NZE:GNE, ASX:GNE) reached a final investment decision on the second stage of its battery energy storage system (BESS) program at Huntly Power Station on New Zealand's North Island, with an estimated project cost of about NZ$106 million, according to a Monday filing with the New Zealand bourse.

The project will be funded on balance sheet and will add 100 megawatts/200 megawatt-hours of BESS capacity to raise the station's installed capacity to 200 megawatts/400 megawatt-hours, which is sufficient to power roughly 120,000 homes for two hours, per the filing.

The company said it will leverage existing land and infrastructure, coupled with a shared plant from the program's first stage, "to deliver the lowest cost committed grid scale BESS in New Zealand to date."

Second-stage construction is expected to start in the second quarter of fiscal 2027 and the system is scheduled to become operational by the third quarter of fiscal 2028.