Council waves through giant wind project with biggest eight hour battery, as long as it fixes TV reception

A Western Australian council has waved through Neoen’s proposed 500 megawatt (MW) Yathroo wind project and its associated giant eight hour battery, the biggest of its type to receive planning approvals so far.

Neoen started the local public consultation process in July, and the Dandaragan shire council approved the 65 turbine project and enormous 400 MW, 3,200 megawatt hour (MWh) battery at the end of October.

The approval comes with conditions, including that Neoen fix any television reception problems for people living within 5km of the project and deliver a large range of final or updated reports to the council before starting construction. 

These reports include the final turbine plan and drawings, an updated noise impact report, a report outlining how aerial spraying and aerial firefighting will work around the turbines, plans to handle surface water and bird and bat protection, and a cultural heritage survey. 

What the council doesn’t want to see for at least another 30 years however, is the updated decommissioning plan, which it’s asked for just before the wind project is removed. 

In the development application, Neoen said it wants the project finished in time to support Western Australia’s planned exit from state-owned coal power generation by 2029.

That goal depends on attaining all the necessary state and federal approvals in time – but it has been awarded critical project status with Western Power to enable a timely connection.

Yathroo is on 5,617ha of land squashed between two other wind projects, and hugs the new Clean Energy Link – North transmission line.

To the south is Alinta Energy’s 550 MW Marri wind project, which opened for public consultation with the state’s Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) this week, and to the north is Alinta and Ratch Australia’s operating 214 MW Yandin wind farm, which regularly ranks among the top performing wind generation assets in Australia after it opened in 2020.

The battery element is the most ambitious part of the project: it joins a growing club of eight-hour batteries that have had their development applications approved, or in the process of getting them approved.

Neoen, now owned by Brookfield, is one of Australia’s biggest battery developers.

In October, the company said it was starting work on its first six-hour big battery, the 164 MW, 905 MWh Muchea project which is around 50KM north of Perth. 

That battery is underwritten by the federal government’s Capacity Investment Scheme, after it won a deal earlier this year. 

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