UGL to build Neoen’s new Tesla big battery next to Australia’s biggest solar farm

UGL, a subsidiary of Cimic Group, has been appointed by French based renewable and storage developer Neoen to install the big battery and high voltage infrastructure at the Western Downs Green Power Hub west of Brisbane.

The contract landed by UGL includes the installation of the Tesla Megapack battery units at the 200MW/400MWh battery, and the transmission infrastructure to connect it to the grid.

The Western Downs big battery is one of eight projects – three of them owned by Neoen – which will receive  funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency to install big batteries with advanced, or grid forming, inverters that allow them to mimic the properties of synchronous generators such as coal and gas plants.

The Western Downs battery will be located next to the 400MW solar farm of the same name, which is nearly complete and is already the biggest operating solar farm in Australia.

UGL says it has already built 11 solar farms and installed three large-scale batteries, including Neoen’s Victoria Big Battery (pictured above) near Geelong, which at 300MW and 450MWh remains – for now – the biggest in the country. That project also featured Tesla Megapack technology.

“CIMIC is actively pursuing the emerging opportunities driven by the energy transition and we’re proud to again work with Neoen,” Cimic Group executive chairman Juan Santamaria said in a statement.

“Battery Energy Storage Systems provide critical grid support services, improving the reliability of energy supply for many Australians, as well as helping contribute to meet Australia’s net-zero aspirations.”

See also RenewEconomy’s Big Battery Storage Map of Australia