Collie Renewable Battery Up and Running Ahead of Schedule
THE CLEAN ENERGY CAFÉ: Renewable energy company Neoen provided the renewable energy space a big jump on the plans of Federal opposition Leader Peter Dutton this week with the big green button pressed at the company’s Collie Battery Stage 1 in Western Australia.
Neoen has taken less than 18 months to build and start operating its 219 MW / 877 MWh Collie Battery Stage 1, which is located near the town of Collie, one of Mr Dutton’s chosen nuclear power plant site.
Constructed on the country of the Wilman people of the Bibbulmun nation, in the South West region of WA the Collie Battery Stage 1 is the largest battery in WA to date.
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.
“We are extremely proud to have delivered the largest battery in Western Australia in record time,” Neoen Australia CEO Jean-Christophe Cheylus said at the launch.
“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 2 GW of projects in our pipeline in WA, we are committed to continuing to play our part in the State’s energy transition.”
On 1st October, Collie Battery Stage 1 began delivering its 197 MW / 4-hour grid capacity service to the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) as part of a ‘Non-Co-optimised Essential System Services’ (NCESS) contract that is set to run for a period of two years.
The battery provides 197 MW 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 (341 MW / 1,363 MWh), which is currently under construction, was awarded a similar 300 MW / 4-hour NCESS contract by AEMO in April 2024.
Altogether, the Collie Battery (560 MW / 2,240 MWh) will have the ability to charge and discharge 20 per cent of average demand in the SWIS.
Neoen stated it meets its strategy of deepening its investment in storage through extended duration, enabling it to unlock greater value as long duration storage becomes increasingly vital to electricity networks transition to higher penetrations of renewable energy.
Neoen has other Australian operating batteries and its storage portfolio in operation or under construction in the country currently sits at 1,925 MW / 4,709 MWh.
This includes the 300 MW / 450 MWh Victorian Big Battery in Geelong and the 150 MW / 193.5 MWh Hornsdale Power Reserve in South Australia, both in operation, as well as several batteries currently under construction: 238.5 MW / 477 MWh Blyth Battery in South Australia, two stages of Western Downs Battery in Queensland (both sized at 270 MW / 540 MWh) and the 100 MW / 200 MWh Capital Battery in the Australian Capital Territory.