Neoen lodges planning application for 1-GW/4-GWh battery in Western Australia

France’s Neoen SA (EPA:NEOEN) is seeking planning approval for the installation of a 1-GW/4-GWh battery energy storage system (BESS) in Western Australia, official documents showed on Tuesday.

The renewable power producer has lodged an application with the Shire of Collie and the Regional Joint Development Assessment Panel (JDAP).

To be built near the coal town of Collie, around 215 km southeast of Perth, the Collie battery will be built in five 200-MW/800-MWh stages, or “as needed” to meet energy storage demand in the region, and will be connected to the South West Interconnected System (SWIS), the state’s main electricity grid. The project site will span 31 acres (12.5 ha).

The huge project will be implemented to address intermittencies in the energy supply and grid fluctuations. The complex will provide system security services such as inertia, frequency control, system strength and voltage control. As part of the scheme, Neoen also intends to install a new switchgear, a substation with step-up power transformers and a 330-kV overhead cable line.

Each phase of the project is planned to take between 12 and 24 months to build, Neoen said. Once the first stage is completed, the facility will provide storage capacity to cover the average energy needs of 260,000 households for an hour.

Neoen is the developer of Australia’s largest BESS – the 300 MW/450 MWh Victorian Big Battery that went online in December 2021.

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