Milestone for Collie battery project

In Western Australia, installation work has been completed at Synergy’s Collie Battery Energy Storage System, with all 640 batteries and 160 inverters now in place. The work was led by local construction company SCEE Electrical, creating more than 500 jobs, according to the WA Government.

WA Premier Roger Cook and Energy and Decarbonisation Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson were joined by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to mark the completion of the installation, which will be one of the biggest battery systems in Australia. When complete, the 500 MW battery with 2000 MWh of energy storage will be able to power about 785,000 homes.

Cook said the Synergy Collie battery was a key project in the state government’s Energy Transformation Strategy. “My government is diversifying our economy for the future, positioning WA at the forefront of the clean energy transition and creating skilled local jobs for the future,” he stated.

“We are investing more than $5.7 billion towards renewable energy generation, transmission and storage.

“Our investment in battery storage in WA demonstrates our commitment to providing reliable and sustainable energy now and well into the future.”

The Collie battery is expected to be completed later this year and to be ready in time for summer. Commissioning works have now commenced.

“The completion of installation works at Synergy’s Collie Battery Energy Storage System shows us that Collie will continue to be at the heart of WA’s main electricity system,” said Collie-Preston MLA Jodie Hanns.

This is Synergy’s third grid-connected battery, with two battery energy storage systems in Kwinana (KBESS1 and KBESS2) already up and running as part of Western Australia’s energy system.

Top image caption: Screenshot from Synergy’s CBESS flythrough video.