Tesla Energy sees potential in South Australia as Neoen plans 1.8GWh battery project

The owner of the Tesla Powerpack farm in South Australia, French renewable energy developer Neoen, has filed its development application for a massive renewable energy project. The proposed initiative is one of the most ambitious plans suggested in the country, involving the buildout of a total of 1,200MW of wind energy, 600MW of solar photovoltaic systems, and 900MW/1800MWh of battery storage. 

Once completed, the proposed project will significantly dwarf the current biggest battery in the world, the Tesla Powerpack farm known as the Hornsdale Power Reserve, which was recently upgraded into a 150MW/194MWh system. The upgraded Powerpack farm is showing a lot of potential, with test runs this month showing that the batteries are capable of performing a rapid 270MW flip by charging at 120MW and discharging at 150MW. 

Neoen’s development applications suggest that the ambitious project will be delivered in three equal tranches of 400MW wind, 200MW solar, and 300MW/600MWh of battery storage. When taken together, the mammoth system would generate about 4.8 TWh of zero-emissions power annually. That’s almost double the current output of wind and solar in the entire state, as noted in a Renew Economy report. 

According to Neoen, the ‘extremely large battery” that will be utilized for the proposed initiative would be located on the South Australia end of the upcoming EnergyConnect line. Similar to the Hornsdale Power Reserve, which has been tried and tested over the past years, the giant battery system will be providing crucial grid support functions to the state’s energy supply. “It would be available to assist the grid in the event of major disruptions,” Neoen said. 

Neoen has not revealed if it would tap Tesla to provide the batteries for its planned 1.8GWh giant renewable energy system. That being said, Tesla may very well be one of the frontrunners for Neoen, seeing as the Hornsdale Power Reserve has performed admirably since it started operations. There are many reasons behind Neoen’s decision to expand the Hornsdale Powerpack farm into a 150MW/194MWh system, after all, and one of them is likely the fact that Tesla’s battery storage systems simply work. 

The French renewable energy developer is one of the companies in the market that has intimate knowledge and experience with Tesla’s grid-scale battery storage solutions. With this in mind, Neoen is fully aware of the capabilities and potential of Tesla’s batteries. This is especially notable amidst Tesla’s upcoming release of its million-mile batteries, which will likely be capable of operating as energy storage units for decades. 

Neoen has noted that it will likely take three years from the date of approval for construction of the solar, wind, and battery systems of the first tranche to commence, and another three years for the phase to be completed. The next stages of the renewable energy project would likely start three years after the construction of the previous stage, which means that the entire project could be completed by about 2032. 

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