Local developer pitches gigawatt-hour big battery to help Perth quit coal

A Western Australian developer is pitching a new $500 million battery for the backbone network between energy hub Collie and Perth.

The 250 megawatt (MW), 1000 megawatt hour (MWh) battery in Baldavis, in the southern suburbs of Perth, is one of 18 storage projects lining the 330 kilovolt transmission line.

The battery is the second proposal by Perth-based RE Developments which has been working on the project since 2024, according to the development application. 

The first proposal is a 125 MW, 500 MWh battery 5km to the south.

The site, on the way from Bunbury to the industrial hub of Kwinana, was chosen “strategically” because of the 2.8 gigawatts (GW) of load expected in the south west of the state.

The proposal is also leveraging off the state’s commitment to retire state-owned coal power stations by 2030, and the need to replace the steady grid heartbeat created by the continuous electricity supplied by fossil power plants. 

Still to retire are the 240 MW Collie A, in 2027, and the Muja 7 and 8 (both 227 MW) in late 2029.

“This initiative will support the existing state electrical infrastructure by increasing reserve capacities and operational efficiencies.,” the planning application says. 

The developer wants to start building the battery by the end of this year and be operational by 2029. 

Batteries, and especially big ones, are likely to be big business in Western Australia in the coming years – and not just because of the exiting coal plants. 

Earlier this month the state regulator recommended a dramatic increase in capacity payments for big batteries with six hours of storage rather than four hours.

The Economic Regulation Authority recommended annual capacity payments of $491,700 per megawatt from the 2028/29 year, up from $360,700 in the current year, and just $141,900 in 2022/23. 

The payments will apply to both batteries and gas generators, as well as other dispatchable generation.

The latest assessment is based on the new requirement that a battery with six hours of storage should be regarded as the benchmark for the state, rather than four hours – and the two hours of battery storage that has previously dominated installations in the eastern states.

The annual payments give batteries an extra revenue stream to lean on.

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