Neoen’s Australian battery storage project reaches financial close
Published by Bella Weetch,
Editorial Assistant
Energy Global,
Neoen, one of the world’s leading and fastest-growing producers of exclusively renewable energy, has completed financial close on the Victorian Big Battery, a 300 MW/450 MWh battery storage facility located near Geelong, in Victoria, Australia. The project will be delivered in collaboration with Tesla and network partner AusNet Services. Owned and operated by Neoen, the Victorian Big Battery will be one of the largest batteries in the world, providing stability to Victoria’s transmission network.
Financing of the Victorian Big Battery was completed just three months after Neoen secured a 250 MW grid services contract with AEMO. The project will be funded by a combination of equity provided by Neoen and AUD160 million senior debt facility provided by the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), on behalf of the Australian Government.
Construction has already commenced, providing a well-timed economic boost for the Geelong region, with the project on track to be delivered before the next Australian summer. The System Integrity Protection Scheme (SIPS) contract will run until 2032, unlocking up to 250 MW of additional peak capacity on the existing Victoria to New South Wales Interconnector (VNI) over the next decade of Australian summers. Under the contract, the battery will provide an automatic response in the event of an unexpected network outage, providing AEMO with an additional resource to ensure grid stability.
Energy storage is a priority technology under the Australian Federal Government’s Technology Investment Roadmap, as an enabler of cost effective and reliable low emission electricity. The Victorian Big Battery will contribute to the dispatchable resources needed to underpin the increasing share of renewable energy that will make up Australia’s future energy mix.
The Hon Lily D’Ambrosio MP, Victorian Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change said: “The Big Battery will help protect Victoria’s energy reliability. It will create jobs and drive down energy prices, as well as supporting our economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.”
Xavier Barbaro, Neoen’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer concluded: “We are thrilled to be building our second big battery in Australia. The Victorian Big Battery once again demonstrates the value of innovative solutions that Neoen is proud to be pioneering. At 300 MW, it will be one of the largest batteries in the world, taking our total capacity in operation or under construction in Australia to over 1.8 GW, and bringing us one step closer to our global target of 5 GW by the end of 2021.”
For more news and technical articles from the global renewable industry read our latest issue of Energy Global magazine.
Energy Global’s Winter 2020 issue
The Winter issue of Energy Global provides a range of technical articles covering technological advancements and future outlooks in the renewables sector, from companies including CorPower Ocean, Rystad Energy, Black & Veatch, Voltalia, FUERGY, and more.
Read the article online at: https://www.energyglobal.com/energy-storage/25022021/neoens-australian-battery-storage-project-reaches-financial-close/
You might also like
Sonnedix begins construction of its largest UK solar PV plant
Sonnedix has begun the construction of its 120 MW ground-mounted solar photovoltaic plant, Cowley Complex.