AGL ready to press go on first wind and battery project after getting approval for bigger turbines

Australian coal giant AGL Energy is ready to press go on its first combined wind and battery project later this year after gaining new approvals for a South Australian project it bought in 2009 – but later sidelined as it chose to focus on a buying spree of coal fired generators instead.

When AGL bought the Barn Hill project in the state’s mid-north, it had approval for 62 turbines and would have been sized at around 150 MW. It was one of around 2 GW of renewable projects that were put on hold after AGL decided in 2011 to go all in on coal and became the country’s biggest coal fired generator.

Now that AGL has shifted tack again and is seeking to close the last of those coal fired generators, it went back to apply to state authorities for new approvals for Barn Hill, because wind turbines are now much bigger than they were more than a decade ago, and because battery storage is now a thing.

The Barn Hill project will now comprise a wind component of up to 50 turbines and a vastly increased capacity of up to 360 MW, and it will also feature a big battery sized at up to 270 MW and 1080 MWh. A financial investment decision is expected later this year, at least for the wind component, and likely later for the big battery.

The project is located around 5 km from the town of RedHill, and is sited across the road from the existing Snowtown wind farms and not far from the Clements Gap wind farm, which is located to the north, and is also having a big battery added to the site.

AGL chief operating officer Markus Brokhoff said on Thursday the new approval is significant, and the company will likely make a financial commitment later this year, with construction likely to start in early 2026.

“The wind farm is expected to have up to 50 turbines, generating around 958 GWh a year, and a battery system with capacity to dispatch up to 270 MW over a duration of 4 hours,” he said in a statement.

“South Australia is a leader in renewable energy generation, and we’re proud of our role in providing South Australian customers with energy.”

South Australia already leads the country, and the world, with wind and solar meeting more than 72 per cent of local electricity demand over the last 12 months, and it aims to reach 100 “net” renewables by 2027. The Barn Hill project is expected to be complete in 2028.

The project is one of a number of new battery projects being built by AGL, which already operates the Torrens Island battery in South Australia and the Broken Hill battery in NSW, and is building a giant battery at the site of its shuttered coal plant Liddell.

In its recent half year report it identified five new battery projects that it planned to press the green light over the next 12 months, but these were located in NSW and Queensland.

It aims to have up to 5 GW of new generation and firming capacity in place before 2030 and a total of 12 GW in place by 2036, when the last of its coal fired generators will have shut down..

See also Renew Economy’s Big Battery Storage Map of Australia.