Neoen, a French renewable energy producer, has launched construction of its 200MW/400MWh Blyth Battery storage project in South Australia.
A consortium comprising France-based NHOA Energy and Spanish construction engineering company Elecnor was given the notice to proceed with the project in late December 2022 by Neoen.
NHOA Energy and Elecnor had recently signed an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract and associated long-term operations and maintenance (O&M) contract with Neoen to deliver the battery storage project.
Under the contract, NHOA Energy will be the battery storage specialist in the consortium and Elecnor will serve as the balance-of-plant contractor.
To be constructed next to the Blyth West substation, the Blyth Battery storage project will be connected to the transmission network of ElectraNet.
The battery storage project is anticipated to commence operations in 2025.
NHOA Energy and Elecnor are expected to deploy the battery storage project in combination with the 412MW Neoen’s Goyder South Stage 1 wind farm to provide BHP with 70MW of renewable baseload energy.
As part of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency’s (ARENA) large scale battery storage funding round, Blyth Battery is expected to be supplied with grid-forming inverter technology, which will enable it to deliver essential system stability services.
Neoen will own and operate the battery storage project on a long-term basis.
Neoen Australia managing director Louis de Sambucy said: “We are thrilled to be starting construction of Blyth Battery and to be approaching 3 GW of assets in operation or under construction in Australia.
“We would like to thank NHOA and Elecnor for their hard work and commitment, and ARENA for their trust and support. We are particularly proud of our ability to combine Blyth Battery, Goyder South wind energy and our expertise in energy management to power BHP’s Olympic Dam with renewable baseload.”
Blyth Battery is the fifth big battery of Neoen in Australia, and will increase its overall asset portfolio in the country to nearly 3GW in operation or under construction.
Earlier this week, the French company revealed that it had reached financial close on 209MW of the Goyder South Stage 1 wind farm.
