France’s Neoen Augments Queensland Battery Project to 270 MW/540 MWh

France's Neoen Augments Queensland Battery Project to 270 MW/540 MWh

France’s Independent Power Producer firm which develops, finances, builds and operates solar power plants, wind farms and energy storage solutions, Neoen will be augmenting the the size of its Western Downs Battery project located in Queensland. The expansion is to keep step with the growing demand for storage in the Australian state.

Formerly, the battery was planned to be 200 MW/400 MWh, and now, will be augmented to 270 MW/540 MWh, the firm informed.

Being set up as part of Neoen’s Western Downs Green Power Hub in Barunggam country in South West Queensland, the energy storage system will boast of Tesla Megapack 2XL units. These will go online by 2024-2025. Tesla will look into the delivery of the extension while UGL will act as the construction contractor UGL. UGL had started installation of the initial phase in January.

“With its greater capacity, the battery intends to play an even more central role in Queensland’s rapidly accelerating energy transition [..],” Neoen said.

The Western Downs Battery will be colocated with 460-MWp solar photovoltaic (PV) park which was commissioned. recently. When it kickstarts operations, it will offer support services in the areas of firming, frequency and transmission network.

Neoen is the owner of the 300-MW/450-MWh Victorian Big Battery and the 150-MW/193.5-MWh Hornsdale Power Reserve in South Australia, and is also building three more large-scale facilities.

In May, Neoen had begun the construction of the Storbötet and Lumivaara wind farms in Finland in association with Irish RE cooperative Prokon. The two firms have provided notice to proceed to Vestas regarding the wind farms they own jointly. The total capacity of the wind farms stands at 161.2 MW.

Neoen owns the 300-MW/450-MWh Victorian Big Battery Project. The firm is also the owner of the 150-MW/193.5-MWh Hornsdale Power Reserve in South Australia.