The Western Australian government has announced that a $160 million has been awarded to the listed SCEE Electrical for works at on the Collie big battery being built by the state owned electricity company Synergy.
The 500 MW, four hour (2000MWh) battery will be one of the biggest in Australia, and the world, when completed before the end of 2025, although it will pipped for the title by another battery being built by Neoen just a few kilometres down the road.
Both batteries, along with big batteries being built at Kwinana and Wagerup, are being contracted with the specific task of time shifting the output of rooftop solar into the evening peak, and helping manage the transition from coal to a grid with a majority share of wind and solar.
Collie has been the centre of the state’s coal generation for decades, providing up to half the state’s electricity needs. But this has fallen to around 30 per cent now and will reduce to zero with the closure of the remaining state-owned coal units by 2029, and the likely closure of the last privately owned generator expected within a few years.
The $160 million contract awarded to SCEE Electrical is for civil, electrical and major equipment installation works for the Collie battery.
The works will include installing and commissioning about 640 battery container units, 160 inverters and 220 kilometres of high-voltage cabling, as well as managing a laydown facility at the Port of Bunbury.
The project is expected to create up to 500 jobs at the peak of construction.
“Synergy’s Collie battery will be a major piece of infrastructure when complete and will play a critical role in Western Australia achieving net zero emissions by 2050,” state energy minister Reece Whitby said in a statement.
Jodie Hanns, the local MLA representing the electorate of Collie-Preston, said Collie has played an important role in the energy sector over the past century, and will “continue to be at the heart of the energy system well into the future.”
