Paris-based renewable energy company Neoen has closed financing for the 300MW/450MWh Victorian Big Battery storage facility, located near Geelong in Victoria, Australia.
As one of the large-scale batteries in the world, the facility is expected to provide stability to Victoria’s transmission network.
The project is owned and operated by Neoen, and is expected be delivered in collaboration with Tesla and network partner AusNet Services.
Neoen chairman and chief executive officer Xavier Barbaro said: “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 300MW, it will be one of the largest batteries in the world, taking our total capacity in operation or under construction in Australia to over 1.8GW, and bringing us one step closer to our global target of 5GW by the end of 2021.”
Financial closing of the Victorian Big Battery comes after Neoen secured a 250MW grid services contract with AEMO, three months ago.
Neoen will provide equity funding for the project, while a A$160m ($124m) senior debt facility will be offered by the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), on behalf of the Australian Government.
With construction already underway, the project is expected to come online before the next summer in Australia.
The System Integrity Protection Scheme (SIPS) contract, which runs until 2032, would unlock up to 250MW of additional peak capacity on the existing Victoria to New South Wales Interconnector (VNI) over the next decade.
Under the terms of the contract, the battery offers an automatic response in the event of an unexpected network outage, and provides an additional resource to ensure grid stability.
In November last year, Neoen secured financing for its 460MW Western Downs Green Power Hub solar plant located in South West Queensland, Australia.
