“Dedication and audacity:” Neoen sails past 3GW of solar, wind and batteries in Australia

Global renewables giant Neoen has passed the 3GW mark for wind, solar and battery storage installed in Australia, building up a portfolio of assets that accounts for nearly half of the nation’s installed battery capacity.

Neoen, which made headlines locally and globally for building the world’s first big battery in under 100 days in South Australia, revealed on Thursday it has reached 3.3GW of capacity in operation in Australia – more than any other single developer, it claims.

“Adding more than 3GW of capacity over the past decade is a major achievement for Neoen and for Australia’s renewable energy transition, which we are proud to be a part of,” said Neoen Australia CEO Louis de Sambucy.

“It is thanks to the dedication and audacity of the Neoen team that we have often been able to lead the way,” he said.

Neoen says it has invested more than $A4 billion in a portfolio of 20 assets in operation or under construction, including 2GW of generation capacity split evenly between solar and wind and 1.3GW/2.8GWh of battery storage.

The France-based company says these assets combine to account for around 10 per cent each of Australia’s utility-scale solar and wind capacity, and 45% of Australia’s grid scale battery storage.

The pride of Neoen Australia’s battery portfolio remains the Hornsdale Power Reserve which, with its expanded 150MW/193.5MWh of Tesla batteries, has blazed a trail in demonstrating how battery storage can be used to stabilise the grid and help bringing down energy prices.

The Hornsdale big battery has since been eclipsed in size, however, by Neoen’s 300MW/450MWh Victorian Big Battery, which started operating in 2021 and for now remains Australia’s largest.

Xavier Barbaro, Neoen’s global chairman and CEO, on Thursday described Australia as Neoen’s “number one” country.

“It is a model and an inspiration for us internationally, and it is a source of much of our innovation,” he said.

Going forward, Neoen Australia says its Sydney-based team – which has grown to 100 staff across seven offices around the country – aims to have around 10GW in operation or under construction by 2030.

“Hand in hand with local communities, our business partners, and the federal and state governments, we are strongly committed to continuing to play a decisive role in Australia’s clean energy future,” de Sambucy said.

“[Our] ambition is to have highly competitive assets in each of the three technologies (solar, wind and storage) in every state, and to leverage this multi-technology portfolio to design the solutions of the future for the grid and for energy customers,” the company says.