Neoen unveils massive new plans for a giga-scale big battery in WA coal hub

The Australian arm of French renewables giant Neoen is seeking development approval to build a massive battery energy storage system of up to up to 1000MW/4000MWh near the Western Australia coal town of Collie.

In planning documents published here, Neoen says it is seeking approval from the Shire of Collie and the Regional Joint Development Assessment Panel (JDAP) to build the “Collie Battery” in 200MW/800MWh stages “as needed” to meet energy storage demand in the region.

The documents say a 200MW/400MWh first stage of the Collie Battery, alone, would have the theoretical capacity to power 260,000 households for one hour, while also standing ready “to pump power into the grid in the event of a shortfall from other electricity generators.”

The plans for the Collie big battery follow the Western Australia Labor government’s July announcement that it will close WA’s remaining state-owned coal fired generators – the Muja and Collie power stations – by 2030.

WA premier Mark McGowan says the Collie power station will close in 2027, to be replaced by a share of $3.8 billion of new investment in renewable energy infrastructure, including new wind and energy storage projects.

Neoen says the proposed Collie Battery, which would connect to the Western Power network, aims to “support greater energy security” for the grid in the region, as well as the transition of the town’s economy to more diversified and innovative industries.

See RenewEconomy’s Big Battery Storage Map of Australia

“This project is a significant investment in energy infrastructure in the Shire of Collie. It will contribute to the
economy of the region at a time when the Muja and Collie power stations are announced to retire by 2027
and 2029 respectively,” the documents say.

“There is significant potential for the project to address intermittencies in energy supply due to the ability of utility-scale battery facilities to respond quickly to fluctuations in the grid,” the application documents say.

“The Project will also support the State’s objectives to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 and does so by utilising disturbed and cleared land adjacent to existing energy infrastructure.”

Neoen says the battery project also forms part of a broader vision of a Myaree Farm landholder to participate in the Collie “Just Transition” process, diversify their farm revenue streams, and improve the condition of the land and econsystems across their properties.

The company expects the staged construction of the massive battery facility to create around 150 direct jobs over a 12 to 24-month construction period as well as up to four ongoing roles in the first stage and up to eight on-going roles for the final 1000MW/4000MWh operational phase of the project.

Neoen has a strong pedigree in grid-scale battery storage development in Australia and globally, having kicked off the big battery rush in South Australia with the Tesla-based Hornsdale Power Reserve – the biggest in the world at the time.

It is also the developer of what is currently Australia’s biggest battery, the 300MW/450MWh Victoria big battery, which this year helped delivered a near three fold boost in storage revenue in the first quarter of 2022 for Neoen, and contributed to record quarterly sales for the company.

Neoen’s battery storage assets also include the 20MW/34MWh Bulgana big battery in Victoria, and it is also building the 100MW/200MWh Capital big battery in Canberra.

Other projects in the pipeline include battery storage next to the 420MW Western Downs solar farm, at the Goyder South renewable energy park in South Australia that could be sized to 900MW and 1800MWh, and the 500MW, 1000MWh Great Western battery project near Lithgow.