Work is underway on a third stage of the massive Western Downs Battery in Queensland, which will virtually double the size of the energy storage system to 845 megawatts (MW)/2,300 megawatt-hours (MWh).
The Western Downs Battery is currently owned and operated by Neoen Australia, which in turn is now owned by global funds management giant Brookfield.
Neoen, which built Australia’s first big battery at Hornsdale in South Australia in 2017, has built the Western Downs Battery in stages, with the first 270 MW/540 MWh stage completed in mid-2025, and the second stage doubling the battery’s size to 540 MW/1,040 MWh completed later in the year.
The company announced in December that it planned to continue expanding the project with a third stage that would add another 305 MW/1,220 MWh, taking the battery’s total size to 845 MW/2,300 MWh.
Once completed, this third stage expansion will see the Western Downs Battery become Neoen’s largest battery in Australia, in terms of storage (but not power), just pipping the 560 MW, 2,240 MWh Collie battery.
The third stage expansion is being built by local engineering company UGL, which also delivered the second expansion ahead of schedule.
Work underway is now focused on bulk earthworks, trenching and concrete works, and preparing the site for the installation of the 312 Tesla Megapacks 2XL units.
“Our team is committed to maintaining momentum and delivering each phase with the same focus on safety, precision and performance,” said Jack Connors, UGL project manager.
“It’s exciting to see the project already contributing to Queensland’s grid from its previous stages while we focus on constructing a third stage.”
The Western Downs Battery is located directly adjacent to the 400 MW Western Downs solar farm, which is also owned by Neoen.
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