Renewable power producer Neoen Australia has filed planning documents to develop a standalone 1 GW /4 GWh battery energy storage system (BESS) near the town of Collie, Western Australia.
In planning documents lodged with the Shire of Collie, Neoen said the big battery will be built on a 31-hectare site about 12 kilometers northeast of Collie, approximately 215 km southeast of Perth. The company said the battery is expected to be constructed in five 200 MW/800 MWh stages “or as required to meet the evolving needs of the SWIS.”
The company is also seeking approval to build new switchgear, a 330/33 kV substation with step-up power transformers, and 330 kV overhead cables to connect to the existing Western Power transmission infrastructure. It said the staged approach to development means construction activities could span over 10 years, with each stage to generate up to 150 direct jobs.
The day-to-day operations and interactions with the wholesale electricity market (WEM) will be predominantly monitored and controlled remotely from the company’s Operation Control Centre (OCC) in Canberra which currently operates 14 existing projects across Australia.
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Neoen says the Collie Battery is the key to unlocking future investment in, and uptake of, renewable energy in the state and helping to solve existing grid limitations by providing greater reserve capacity to the SWIS.
“System security risks are emerging now as the increase in large-scale renewable generation and distributed energy resources displaces the dispatchable thermal generators that presently provide all system security services such as inertia, frequency control, system strength, and voltage control,” Neoen said. “The proposed project will address these issues. There is significant potential for the project to address intermittencies in energy supply due to the ability of utility-scale battery facilities to respond quickly to fluctuations in the grid.”
Neoen said this week it has more than 2.5 GW of renewable assets in operation or under construction in Australia, representing more than AUD 3.5 billion ($2.4 billion) in investment. The company aims to reach 5 GW in Australia by 2025.
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