WA to fund Australia’s biggest battery as part of $2.8bn renewable and storage plan

The Western Australia state government is to provide funding for a 2,000MWh big battery – the biggest in Australia – that will be built in the coal centre of Collie as it seeks to fast-track its switch from fossil fuels to clean energy.

The new battery will be built by the state owned utility Synergy and is part of a $2.8 billion package in the state’s budget that also includes a new 800MWh battery at Kwinana, and support for several large scale wind projects and transmission upgrades.

It comes just a day after the government released new modelling as part of a plan to build a stunning 51GW of new wind, solar and storage capacity to upgrade the grid so it can power the massive opportunities in green hydrogen, critical minerals and other green industries.

The Collie battery will be sized at 500MW and four hours of storage, so a total of 2000MWh, and is due to be built by 2025, which means it will be bigger than the planned Waratah “super” battery in NSW – 850MW and 1680MWh – that will help replace Australia’s biggest coal generator at Eraring.

French renewable energy and storage developer Neoen has also flagged a potential big battery of up to 1,000MW (and 2000MWh) at Collie, but it appears to be a separate project.

Synergy will also build a 200MW battery with four hours of storage (800MWh) at Kwinana, effectively the second stage of the first 100MW/200MWh Kwinana battery that is now working through its commissioning process.

State energy minister Bill Johnston says those two new batteries will cost a combined $2.3 billion.

“These large-scale batteries will be an essential part of WA’s energy future, collecting excess energy from the State’s vast rooftop solar resources during the day, and releasing green energy when it is needed at peak times,” state energy minister Bill Johnston said.

Johnston said the new state budget will also include $368 million in funds for up to 210MW of large scale renewables, including Synergy’s 150MW King Rocks project near Hyden in the wheatbelt region, and a possible expansion of Bright Energy’s 180MW Warradarge wind farm near Eneabba north of Perth.

“The South West Interconnected System, our main electricity grid, is in the middle of a significant transformation: moving from a high-emissions, thermal generation base, to a low-emissions, renewable future.”

The funding also includes $126 million for grid upgrades and studies that was revealed along with the government’s new 20 year plan that could provide a massive upgrade to the grid, and see tens of gigawatts of large scale solar and storage.

Note: This story has been updated to make clear that the Collie battery will be built by Synergy, and not Neoen.

See also RenewEconomy’s Big Battery Storage Map of Australia

And: Large Scale Wind Farm Map of Australia