Shell Energy Australia will build, own and operate the already approved 500MW/1,000MWh Wallerawang 9 battery energy storage system (BESS) following an acquisition deal with Greenspot.
Greenspot has been developing the site at Wallerawang, near Lithgow in New South Wales, which formerly housed eight coal power generation units until the power station was shut down by EnergyAustralia in 2014.
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Greenspot will lease 20 hectares of land for the project to Shell and the battery system will be connected to an existing 330kV substation adjacent to the site pending a final investment decision. Greenspot has identified another 200 hectares of the 620-hectare site as an employment hub for a range of future-facing and high-tech industries.
“The greater Lithgow region has contributed to powering NSW for nearly 70 years,” Greenspot CEO Brett Hawkins said.
“As the economy decarbonises, and new energy technologies are adopted, it is critically important that strategies are implemented to attract a range of new businesses to areas like Lithgow which have traditionally relied heavily on coal-based industry.”
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“Shell is building a significant renewable energy portfolio in Australia and we look forward to working with Shell on Wallerawang 9 to make this a success for the Greenspot precinct and the Lithgow region more broadly,” he said.
The Wallerawang 9 battery project was approved as part of the NSW Government’s Priority Assessment Program, which accelerates the review of State Significant Development Projects that are expected to create economic activity and provide substantial public benefits.
