Neoen begins building battery alongside one of Australia’s biggest solar farms

Renewables developer Neoen Australia has launched construction of a 215 MW / 963 MWh battery energy storage system that will transform one of Australia’s biggest solar farms into a hybrid solar generation and energy storage facility.

The 350 MW Culcairn Solar Farm, near the town of Albury in the New South Wales (NSW) Riverina region, commenced operations earlier this year.

Construction of a battery energy storage system has now commenced at the site with Neoen confirming the solar farm and battery will share the same point of connection into the transmission network, meaning that the battery will be able to store energy directly from the solar farm before supplying it into the electricity grid.

“We are especially proud of this asset as it will be Neoen’s first ‘behind-the-meter’ battery at a solar farm,” the company said, adding that the milestone is possible thanks to “the deep, technical expertise of our people and to their strong relationships in the industry and project community.”

Neoen said the battery – which has grown in size from an initially proposed 100 MW / 200 MWh to 215 MW / 963 MWh thanks to higher energy densities of battery units – will support grid reliability and stability in the National Electricity Market and help the NSW government in delivering its Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap.

“Together, this project is contributing to NSW’s plan to modernise the electricity network with clean energy,” the company said.

The new storage asset will be built by Italy-headquartered NHOA Energy and a joint venture between French-owned contractor Bouygues Construction Australia and Equans Solar and Storage.

Construction of the battery is expected to take about two years to complete with the project expected to generate about 160 jobs.

The Culcairn Solar Farm is underpinned by a four-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with energy retailer SmartestEnergy which has agreed to purchase 50% of the project’s capacity. It is also supported by a long-term energy services agreement with the NSW government.