Eight-hour big battery project gets state green light for Australia’s biggest isolated grid

Plans for a new big battery to join Western Australia’s main grid, in this case with up to eight hours of energy storage, have been given the green light by the state planning authority and the local government, further bolstering what is Australia’s biggest isolated electricity network.

Melbourne based developer Mint Renewables submitted a state development application for a 100 megawatt (MW) 800 megawatt-hour (MWh) battery in the Shire of Kojonup in WA’s Great Southern region back in June.

The Western Australian government’s Regional Development Assessment Panel met last month to review the application, subsequently approving development and securing the blessing of the local council, subject to minor amendments and a range of conditions.

In its statement of reasons, the RDAP said the project proposal supports the state’s objective of encouraging renewable energy development in rural areas where environmental impacts can be minimised.

“The Panel noted that the development footprint would not affect habitat for threatened species or threatened ecological communities and would be located predominantly on cleared land used for farming,” the meeting minutes say.

“The Panel was satisfied that other environmental matters would be appropriately addressed through conditions requiring a Construction and Environmental Management Plan and an Operational Management Plan.”

RDAP also acknowledged battery fire risk concerns that it says were raised by neighbouring landowners, but said it was satisfied with the assurances from the Mint team that “appropriate safeguards would be implemented … and maintained for the life of the development.”

Mint Renewables will still need to secure a range of other approvals and licenses for the battery, including through the federal government’s Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act.

All going to plan, the stand-alone battery will be built next to the existing Kojonup Substation, on the South West Interconnected System (SWIS), which is Western Australia’s main grid.

Last month, Mint unveiled brand new plans for the Magpie Hill project with 375 MW of solar and a 375 MW, eight-hour battery, which it hopes to build just north of Canberra.

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