French renewable energy and storage giant Neoen is on track to triple the size of its enormous Collie Battery project in Australia using Tesla Megapacks. This new project will be the country’s biggest BESS in the country.
Neoen wins contract to pursue phase II development
According to the press release, Neoen secured a contract from the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) for the second phase of the Collie Battery development.
Neoen chose Tesla’s Megapack li-ion battery storage to power its record-breaking 1.3 Gwh BESS in Australia.
The second phase will expand the Collie Battery’s size with another 341 MW and 1363 MWh using 348 Tesla Megapack 2 XL units.
The first phase of the project is already under development. It is sized at 219 MW and 877 MWh with 224 Tesla Megapack 2XLs.
“Neoen, one of the world’s leading producers of exclusively renewable energy, has been awarded a 300 MW / 4-hour capacity services contract by the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) in a competitive tender initiated by the Western Australian Coordinator of Energy.”
Neoen
Neoen Collie Battery’s capacity
The added capacity of the Phase II development brings the total size of the Collie Battery to 560 MW and 2,240 MWh, making it the biggest of its kind in Australia.
It beat Synergy’s 500 MW, 2000 MWh battery that is also under construction a few km away in Collie. It also surpassed Ark Energy’s 275 MW/ 2,200 MWh eight-hour battery at Myrtle Creek in New South Wales.
Tesla reports new energy storage deployment record in Q1 2024
According to Tesla’s Q1 2024 report, its energy storage deployment hit a record of 4,053 MWh in Q1 2024. This indicates an increase from just 3,889 MWh in Q1 2023 to 3,202 MWh in Q4 2023.
Tesla’s energy storage unit is still growing, with potential to expand further in the rest of the year. The company is developing its second Megafactory in Shanghai after to boost Megapack’s production capacity.
Neoen expects the second stage to start operations in Q4 2025. It offers substantial grid services to the South-West Interconnected System (SWIS). It can apparently charge/discharge 20% of the average demand in Western Australia’s main grid.
