Neoen to add 341 MW to Western Australia battery affter contract win

French renewables company Neoen SA (EPA:NEOEN) on Monday said it will build a second stage of its Collie Battery in Western Australia after securing a 300-MW/four-hour capacity services contract from the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO).

Collie Battery Stage 2 will be 341 MW/1,363 MWh in size and will be made up of 348 Tesla Megapack 2 XL units. Neoen has kicked off the construction process by providing notices to proceed to Tesla and construction contractor UGL, part of Australia’s Cimic Group.

The AEMO Non-Co-optimised Essential System Services (NCESS) contract, secured by the company in a competitive tender initiated by the Western Australian Coordinator of Energy, will run for a period of two years from October 1, 2025. The project is located near the town of Collie and will connect to Western Power’s new Palmer Terminal substation in the South-West Interconnected System (SWIS). It will discharge in the evening peak, helping to mitigate risks related to the retirement of coal power plants, rooftop solar uptake and growing energy demand in Western Australia.

The 219-MW/877-MWh first stage of the battery, which won a similar contract in June 2023, is currently under construction and expected to go live in the final quarter of 2024.

The news means Neoen Australia now has 4 GW of capacity in operation or under construction.

Neoen’s Collie Battery has development approval for 1 GW/4 GWh, according to the project’s website.

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