Neoen begins constructing 400 MWh battery project in Australia

Neoen, a French renewable energy provider, has issued notice to proceed to a consortium comprising Elecnor and NHOA to commence construction of its Blyth Battery in South Australia. The 200 MW/400 MWh battery will be constructed close to the Blyth West substation and connected to the transmission system of ElectraNet. ElectraNet operates a high-voltage transmission network in South Australia, transporting power from traditional and renewable generators over long distances.

The energy producer stated that it will deploy its Blyth Battery alongside Neoen’s Goyder South Stage I wind project to provide BHP with 70 MW of clean baseload electricity. The BHP Olympic Dam operations in South Australia will be run on this clean energy. The battery asset will also include grid-forming inverter technology, which will be financed for by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency’s (ARENA) large-scale battery storage funding round. The asset, which is anticipated to be operational in 2025, will have Neoen as its long-term owner and operator.

Earlier this month, Neoen completed financing for a portion of its Goyder South Stage I wind farm in South Australia. Six lenders, including ANZ, HSBC, Mizuho, Societe Generale, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, and Westpac, are providing equity and debt financing for the 412 MW wind project. The first tranche was funded by two long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) and included 209 MW of the wind farm’s capacity. One PPA was for 100 MW over a period of 14 years with the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Government, and the other was for 40 MW over a period of ten years with Australian energy retailer Flow Power.

REGlobal’s Views: Neoen has an established presence in the Australian energy storage market and has more such storage projects coming up in other parts of the country including a stand-alone 1 GW/4 GWh battery energy storage system near Collie, Western Australia. The region of Western Australia is expanding its renewables and storage capacity as its plans to exit coal-based power generation, providing an attractive market potential for more such large storage projects.