(Image credit: EcoWatch)
The government in Western Australia announced on the 15th of March that construction has begun on the largest battery energy storage system (BESS) project in the country. The Collie BESS site will have a 500MW output and 2000MwH capacity, which is the equivalent capacity to the country’s entire portfolio under construction in 2022.
Funded by the state as a part of the government energy storage commitment, the site is expected to help manage intermittent renewable energy sources. Solar and wind are the two main sources.
State owned energy generation retailer Synergy are looking to add to the portfolio. The company are now looking to deploy 3GwH of energy storage from batteries by 2025. Collie is to also be completed by the end of 2025 and will consist of two projects, the Kwinana 1 (a 100MW-400MwH capacity) and the Kwinana 2 (with 200MW-800MwH capacity).
The new BESS project in Western Australia will increase its energy security in the region. The region is not a part of the National Electricity Market (NEM) that connects the Southern and Eastern parts to electricity market. Instead, the energy in Western Australia is connected through the Southwest Interconnected System of Western Australia grid network, which is known to be an incredibly volatile market. Energy storage will help manage electricity in the grid preventing potential energy blackouts. Currently, Western Australia is set to need between 12GwH and 17GwH of capacity by 2050.
At the end of 2022, 19 BESS projects worth 1.4GW were under construction in Australia. By the end of 2023, 5GW of BESS projects were under construction. The upgrades continue to be planned at the Collie site. Privately owned French power producer Neoen have already put plans in place to upgrade the site from 200MW-800MwH to 1GW-4GwH to help the local population benefit from thermal generation.
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