Neoen wins approval for 4GWh battery to be built near retiring coal plants

A giant 4GWh battery proposed by French renewable energy developer Neoen for the coal town Collie in Western Australia has won development approval, allowing the French company to get set for breaking ground on the first stage of the project next year.

The Shire of Collie and the Regional Joint Development Assessment Panel (JDAP) have given development approval for the 1000MW/4000MWh battery, which is set to be sited near the last of the Collie coal fired power generators due to close in 2027.

Some conditions were attached to the approvals, including management plans for the likes of noise, traffic, effluent and bushfires, and construction and landscaping.

The panel said four submissions were made on the application and just two contained complaints. These included compatibility of a battery installation in a rural zone, risk of fire and noise impacts, and a lack of consultation which the panel dismissed saying Neoen had consulted extensively ahead of the application.

The battery will be built in 200MW/800MWh stages — a size that will be able to support 260,000 households for one hour — to cater to rising demand for storage over time.

Neoen’s development application, lodged in September, says the battery will solve problems in WA’s isolated grid through firming services for wind and solar generators, frequency control services or FCAS.

This will mimick the stabilising inertia provided by the coal generators, supporting transmission networks, and creating reserve capacity in the grid.

The application said Neoen intends to start building the first stage in 2023, during which it will support 150 jobs, and have it operational in 2025 with eight ongoing roles.

The battery will connect to the Western Power network via the Western Power Shotts Terminal, with a goal of providing energy security for the region and supporting new industries.

Neoen is a pioneer in big batteries in Australia having installed the 100MW/129MWh Hornsdale Power Reserve in South Australia which was at the time the largest in the world and has since been expanded to 150MW/193MWh.

It also built what is now the country’s largest battery, a 300MW/450MWh behemoth in Victoria, and its portfolio includes the 20MW/34MWh Bulgana big battery in Victoria, and the under-construction 100MW/200MWh Capital big battery in Canberra.

Other projects under construction include battery storage next to the 420MW Western Downs solar farm, the first stage of the Goyder South wind project, and approvals for a 300MW/800MWh big battery at Blyth in South Australia to support a 24/7 renewable power supply to the BHP mine at Olympic Dam.

The site for the Collie battery is on 31.4 hectares on the Myaree farm and is part of a vision by landowner – and EV enthusiast  – Florian Popp to have energy infrastructure co-located with high value grazing activities.

“Implementation of the Project on Myaree Farm will allow partial de-stocking of the lots which will enable ecological restoration in some parts of the farm,” the panel noted.