Neoen to build second Collie battery

French company Neoen has kicked off construction of a second grid-scale battery at Collie to help meet peaks in energy demand after winning a state government contract.

It has been awarded a contract to provide 300 megawatts of storage capacity for up to four hours.

The battery will accumulate power during the day, when solar farms and rooftop solar installations in WA generate excess energy, and discharge the power across the evening peak in demand.

The contract was awarded by the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) in a competitive tender initiated by the Western Australian Coordinator of Energy.

The service will be delivered by a 341 MW / 1,363 MW hour battery – meaning it can deliver more than 300 MW for up to four hours.

Neoen has provided notices to proceed to battery manufacturer Tesla and construction contractor UGL, signalling the start of construction for the stage 2 battery.

It is additional to development of Neoen’s 219 MW / 877 MWh stage 1 battery, which is currently under construction at Collie and on track to start operating in Q4 2024.

The stage 2 battery is expected to be operational in Q4 2025.

Neoen said its Collie battery (stages 1 and 2) will have the ability to charge and discharge 20 per cent of the average demand in WA’s South West.

The company could add further capacity at Collie, having obtained development approval to build a battery with up to 1 gigawatt of capacity.

Neoen also has development approval to build a battery of up to 200 MW at Muchea, north of Perth.

The French company has not disclosed the cost of its Collie battery.

However, state-owned utility Synergy provides a handy guide – it has budgeted to spend $1.6 billion on development of its own grid-scale battery at Collie.

Synergy is building a 500 MW /2,000 MWh capacity that is expected to be completed by the end of 2025.

It is also expanding its existing battery at Kwinana.

Its stage 1 battery has a 100 MW / 200 MWh capacity while its stage 2 battery, currently under construction, will have a 200 MW / 800 MWh capacity.

A third company, Alinta Energy is building a 100MW, two-hour battery at its existing Wagerup power station.

Alinta has also lodged a proposal with the state government to build a second, 300MW battery at Wagerup.

Using the Synergy costing as a guide, the total cost of all these batteries would easily exceed $3 billion.

Energy Policy WA’s Coordinator of Energy Jai Thomas said Neoen’s Collie battery project was another important step toward a greener and more resilient power system.

“Once complete, the battery will be a massive boost for energy storage and stability in the South West Interconnected System,” Mr Thomas said.

Neoen Australia CEO Louis de Sambucy said his company was thrilled to have won a second energy storage contract in WA.

“We are looking forward to the major contribution Collie attery will make to supporting WA’s energy transition,” he said.

The expanded Collie battery takes Neoen Australia’s total asset portfolio to 4 GW of capacity in operation or under construction, making it the country’s largest developer, owner and operator of renewable energy.

The portfolio is split between solar (1.3 GW), wind (1.1 GW) and battery storage (1.7 GW) across six Australian states and territories.