Neoen To Build Stage 2 of 341MW/1363 MWh Collie Battery In Australia

French Renewable Energy company Neoen has been awarded a 300 MW/ 4-hour capacity services contract 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 Stage 2 of Collie Battery sized at 341 MW / 1,363 MWh and consisting of 348 Tesla Megapack 2 XL units.

According to Neoen, the project is located near the town of Collie, in the country of the Wilman people of the Bibbulmun nation, in the Southwest region of Western Australia (WA). It will connect to Western Power’s new Palmer Terminal substation in the South-West Interconnected System (SWIS), a separate network from the one on the eastern coast of Australia.

Neoen has provided notices to proceed to Tesla and construction contractor UGL (a member of the CIMIC Group) signaling the start of construction for Stage 2 of Collie Battery, which is expected to be operational in Q4 2025. It follows on from the 219 MW / 877 MWh Stage 1, which won a similar 197 MW / 4-hour contract with AEMO in June 2023 and is currently under construction and on track to start operating in Q4 2024. All together, Collie Battery is poised to become a critical component for the stability and efficiency of the network, with the ability to charge and discharge 20% of the average demand in the SWIS.

The AEMO Non-Co-optimised Essential System Services (NCESS) contract will run for two years from October 2025. Collie Battery Stage 2 will provide 300 MW of storage capacity for 4 hours of discharging across the evening peak. This is intended to address the risks AEMO has identified related to the retirement of coal power plants, high penetration of rooftop solar, and increasing energy demand in Western Australia.

Collie Battery Stage 2 will deliver an additional economic boost to the Shire of Collie as part of the region’s energy transition, including 150 construction jobs and further opportunities for local suppliers.

Louis de Sambucy, Neoen Australia’s CEO, said, “We are thrilled to have won this second NCESS contract and would like to thank AEMO, Western Power, and the WA Government for their continued trust. We are looking forward to the major contribution Collie Battery will make to supporting WA’s energy transition. I would also like to congratulate the team on reaching the milestone of 4 GW of capacity in Australia – it represents an extraordinary collective effort over the past 12 years.”

Xavier Barbaro, Neoen’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, concluded, “Long-duration storage is becoming a clear need for electricity networks in transition, particularly as new constraints emerge. Neoen is at the forefront of designing solutions to meet this need, as this wonderful new success of Collie Battery Stage 2 demonstrates. It is thanks to its speed, agility, and competitiveness that Neoen will play a vitally important role in energy storage in Australia, and around the world.”

The announcement takes Neoen Australia’s total asset portfolio to 4 GW of capacity in operation or under construction, further cementing its position as the country’s largest developer, owner, and operator of renewable energy. The portfolio is balanced between the company’s three core technologies of solar (1.3 GW), wind (1.1 GW), and battery storage (1.7 GW / 4.2 GWh) across six Australian states and territories.