Renewable energy giant Neoen has announced the operationality of its 219MW/877MWh Collie Battery Stage 1 in Western Australia, which has taken less than 18 months to build.
The battery storage facility is located near the town of Collie, on the country of the Wilman people of the Bibbulmun nation, in the state’s southwest, and is the largest battery in WA to date.
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It is the first Neoen asset to connect into South-West Interconnected System (SWIS) and, in collaboration with Tesla, UGL and network service provider Western Power, it was delivered ahead of schedule.
On October 1, Collie Battery Stage 1 began delivering its 197MW/4-hour grid capacity service to the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO). The contract, called ‘Non-Co-optimised Essential System Services’ (NCESS) runs for a period of two years.
The battery provides 197MW of storage capacity for 4 hours, charging during the day and then discharging across the evening peak. This service is designed to address the risks AEMO identified relating to the phased retirement of WA Government owned coal-fired power plants and increasingly high penetration of rooftop solar in Western Australia.
The battery is Neoen’s first major project in WA and its first 4-hour long duration battery globally. Collie Battery Stage 2 (341MW/1,363MWh), which is currently under construction, was awarded a similar 300MW/4-hour NCESS contract by AEMO in April 2024.
Altogether, the Collie Battery (560MW/2,240MWh) will have the ability to charge and discharge 20% of average demand in the SWIS.
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Neoen Australia CEO Jean-Christophe Cheylus says, “We are extremely proud to have delivered the largest battery in Western Australia in record time. I would like to thank everyone who has worked tirelessly to make this happen: Western Power, Tesla and UGL as well as AEMO and the Western Australian Government.
“We are delighted to be contributing a storage project of this scale and duration. With over 2GW of projects in our pipeline in WA, we are committed to continuing to play our part in the state’s energy transition.”
