Australian arm of French-owned solar and battery energy storage system (BESS) developer Neoen, which is owned by Canada-headquartered asset management company Brookfield, has begun operation of its 350 MW (440 MWp) Culcairn Solar Farm in New South Wales (NSW), located 9 kilometres south of the Riverina regional town of Culcairn, and 535 km southwest of Sydney.
Featuring 760,000 bifacial, single-axis tracker solar panels, Culcairn is Neoen’s second largest solar asset globally that can produce enough energy to power 160,000 homes per year.
Half of its annual output however, was secured in 2024 with the signing of a four-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with independent energy retailer SmartestEnergy, to be used for supplying renewable energy to its commercial and industrial clients across the National Electricity Market (NEM).
Built in two years, in collaboration with Bouygues Construction Australia, Equans Solar & Storage, Lumea, Transgrid, and local contractors, the 1,000 hectare site aims to maintain agricultural production through sheep grazing.
Culcairn Solar Farm was included in a Neoen portfolio of clean energy assets as part of a $100 million Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) investment in 2024.
In NSW, five Neoen developed solar farms include the 189 MW Coleambally, 65.9 MW Parkes, 35.9 MW Griffith, and 28.85 MW Dubbo Solar Farm.
Battery storage
A 963 MWh BESS is also proposed for the site occupying an approximately four hectare footprint in the heart of the solar farm, and adjacent to an existing Transgrid switching station and 330 kV transmission line.
Construction is expected to take 24 months and begin in mid-2026.
Neoen has five grid-scale batteries operational or in development in Australia, including in South Australia (SA), the 150 MW / 193.5 MWh Hornsdale Power Reserve (Australia’s first grid-scale battery development), and 200 MW / 400 MWh Blyth Battery.
In WA, the 341 MW / 1,363 MWh Collie Battery Stage 2, Queensland, the 200 MW / 400 MWh Western Downs Battery, Victoria, the 300 MW / 450 MWh Victorian Big Battery, and the Australian Capital Territory 100 MW / 200 MWh Capital Battery.
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