French renewables developer Neoen has hit the ground running in Australia in 2023, launching construction of big battery projects in both South Australia and Queensland, signing new power purchase deals and reaching financial close on one part of a hybrid wind, solar and storage project, also in South Australia.
In a series of announcements in the first week of the New Year, Neoen says it has kicked off works on its 200MW/400MWh Western Downs Battery in south-west Queensland, its fourth big battery in Australia and the most powerful of its kind, yet, in the Sunshine State.
The Tesla Megapack-based project is being developed by Neoen in partnership with Tesla and balance of plant contractor UGL, with Neoen as the long-term owner and operator of the asset.
The big battery forms part of Neoen’s Western Downs Green Power Hub, which includes a 460MW solar farm that is nearing completion. The battery, which will ultimately be equipped with grid-forming inverter technology, is expected to start operating in the summer of 2024/25.
The Western Downs Battery brings Neoen’s Australian battery storage portfolio to 776MW/1279MWh in operation or under construction, and gives the company a big battery in four of the five states of the National Electricity Market.
Also underway are works on the 200MW/400MWh Blyth Battery in the mid-north region of South Australia, with Neoen giving notice to proceed on construction to Elecnor and battery storage specialist NHOA.
Neoen’s Blyth Battery will be paired with Neoen’s 412MW Goyder South Stage 1 wind farm, which in December reached financial close after securing two new long term power purchase agreements: a 14-year contract for 100MW with the ACT government and a 10-year agreement for 40MW with Flow Power.
Neoen says the wind farm has been financed by a combination of the company’s own equity and debt facilities from lenders including ANZ, HSBC, Mizuho, Societe Generale, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, and Westpac.
Another 203MW of Goyder South Stage 1 will support the recently announced renewable energy baseload contract with BHP, to power operations at its Olympic Dam. The financing of this second portion of Goyder South Stage 1 is expected to be completed in 2023.
Neoen Australia managing director Louis de Sambucy says the company is now approaching 3GW of assets in operation or under construction in Australia.
“We are particularly proud of our ability to combine Blyth Battery, Goyder South wind energy and our expertise in energy management to power BHP’s Olympic Dam with renewable baseload,” de Sambucy said.
Neoen chair and CEO Xavier Barbaro says the Blyth battery will play an essential role in providing 24/7 energy and serve as a template for future baseload contracts for customers both in Australia and globally.
“Neoen is now operating at the GW scale in storage, making us one of the leading global players in batteries and one of the true accelerators of the energy transition.”
Both of the Neoen big batteries set to begin construction received funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency in December in a new funding round designed to close the gap to 100 per cent renewable energy.
The $176 million of Arena funding focuses on advanced grid forming inverters which are capable of providing most, if not all, of the crucial grid services currently delivered by the big coal fired power stations expected to close over the coming decade.
In a statement this week, Arena CEO Darren Miller said next generation grid scale batteries like the Western Downs Battery would be critical to maintaining grid stability without fossil fuels.
Meanwhile, in Queensland, Neoen has signed a power purchase agreement for 215MW of clean energy with state-owned generation company Stanwell Corporation.
The 15-year deal will see Stanwell buy 65% of the generation capacity of Neoen’s 330MW Mount Hopeful Wind Farm, scheduled for construction in the second half of 2023.
The PPA was is Neoen’s first with Stanwell, while the Mount Hopeful wind farm is the company’s third project in Queensland.
Stanwell CEO Michael O’Rourke says the Mount Hopeful wind farm will help provide renewable energy to its commercial and industrial customers “and explore upskilling and training pathways for our people.”
