A new 219 megawatt/877MW-hour battery energy storage system (BESS) near Collie in Western Australia is expected to be operational late next year after French operator Neoen contracted UGL to design and build the battery and infrastructure.
Neoen secured WA Regional Joint Development Assessment Panel and Shire of Collie Council approval late last year to develop a one gigawatt/4GWh BESS near Collie, where historically significant coal mining activities are being wound down.
Neoen said its project would include five 200MW battery compounds, developed in stages to “meet the progressive increase in demand for energy storage” in the state. The stage 1 battery is expected to provide up to four hours of energy storage and will connect to state utility Western Power’s South-West Interconnected System substation.
UGL, part of CIMIC, has delivered 17 major renewables generation and storage projects.
“The Collie battery will be UGL’s sixth BESS project in recent years, and our third for Neoen following the successful design and construction of the Victorian Big Battery and the Western Downs Battery which is currently under construction,” UGL managing director Doug Moss said.
