Neoen Australia’s plans to build its first wind project in Western Australia have been waved through both state and federal environmental assessment processes, paving the way for its development in the same state where Neoen is building one of Australia’s biggest battery projects.
Neoen last year referred plans for the 200 megawatt (MW) Narrogin wind farm, including a 100 MW, 200 MWh battery component, to both the Western Australia Environment Protection Authority and the federal government’s Environment Protection & Biodiversity Conservation Act.
A decision was posted late last week on the EPBC portal determining that the proposed 25-turbine Neoen project is “not a controlled action” and therefore does not require full assessment and approvals under the federal Act.
The EPBC decision follows a similar decision from the WA EPA, posted in December 2024, not to fully assess the wind and battery proposal due to low levels of environmental and habitat disturbance, considering it is planned for predominantly agricultural land that has already been cleared.
Neoen’s Narrogin project has not had such a smooth run with the local government, however, with claims from Narrogin Shire Council that the developer has ignored a local planning policy that was set up to ensure new renewables projects are conducted in line with community wishes.
Narrogin has been struggling with the influx of renewable energy projects on its patch and, in 2023, put in place draft policies guiding how renewable energy should be implemented.
In its environmental impact statement (EIS) for the project, Neoen claimed that the policy “would make most wind projects unviable while being very conservative and not evidence based.”
Neoen says it has been engaging with local stakeholders since 2022 and has promised to “go above and beyond” what the state requires when it comes to benefits sharing schemes. A community benefits fund attached to the wind farm will start at $225,000 a year.
Also in WA, Neoen is currently building the 560 MW, 2240 MWh Collie battery, and has already completed the first stage. It will be the biggest battery in the country when complete later this year, but will likely be overtaken by the Eraring battery in NSW, once the second and third stages of that project are complete in 2027.
