WA wind, solar and battery project snapped up by Shell and Foresight JV

A hybrid wind, solar and battery storage project approved for up to 370MW east of Perth in Western Australia will go ahead under new ownership, after being bought up by a joint venture between Foresight and global oil giant Shell.

Foresight, formerly Infrastructure Capital Group, on Thursday announced the acquisition of the Kondinin Energy Development project, in a 50/50 partnership with Shell Energy Operations – a wholly-owned subsidiary of Shell.

The deal gives the JV development rights to the project, which proposes to combine up to 230MW of wind, 80MW of solar PV and 60MW/120MWh battery storage.

The project was originally developed by Lacour Energy and Goldwind. Foresight’s 50 per cent interest in the project was acquired via its Australian Renewables Income Fund (ARIF).

Location, location, location

The hybrid plant, which has land and development approvals already in place, is located in WA’s eastern Wheatbelt region, in a spot chosen for its strong renewables resource and proximity to an existing Western Power transmission line.

Foresight managing director, Tom Laidlaw, says Kondinin is the fund’s second renewables investment alongside Shell, its first investment as part of Foresight, and its second renewable energy investment into Western Australia.

“We see a lot of opportunity in WA with the state government earlier this year setting new ambitious interim emissions targets to reach net zero by 2050,” Laidlaw said.

Powering a greener mining sector

Shell Australia country chair, Tony Nunan, says the project’s location and late-stage development phase positions it to support decarbonisation of Western Australia’s mining and resources sector.

“Shell has a long history of supplying West Australians with energy and investing in Kondinin demonstrates the continuing importance of the West in our portfolio,” Nunan said on Thursday.

“Kondinin’s combination of onshore wind, solar and large-scale battery storage strengthens our significant investment in building a low-carbon power business in Australia in recent years.”

Pending final investment decision, the JV says construction of Kondinin Stage 1 Wind farm is expected to occur in 2024.

Stage 2 of the project is an optional second wind farm of 114MW and the solar option for an array of up to 80MW total capacity. The project approvals also allow for up to 60MW/120MWh of battery storage.