en.Wedoany.com Reported - Neoen Australia, a subsidiary of French independent power producer Neoen, has commenced deployment of a battery energy storage system at its 440MW Culcairn Solar Farm in New South Wales. The system has a capacity of 215MW/963MWh.
The project is being delivered by a joint venture between energy storage system integrator and EPC contractor NHOA Energy, along with Equans Solar and Storage and Bouygues Construction Australia, both of which were also involved in constructing the Culcairn Solar Farm. The project is scheduled to commence commercial operations in 2028. The battery energy storage system will be connected to the 330kV grid alongside the solar farm, enabling direct storage of solar-generated electricity for dispatch to the Australian National Electricity Market (NEM) as needed. Neoen Australia stated that upon commissioning, the total installed capacity of its renewable energy generation facilities and energy storage systems operating in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory will exceed 1GW.
In March 2021, Neoen Australia received development approval for the Culcairn Solar Farm from the New South Wales Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, which at the time authorized the co-deployment of a 100MW/200MWh battery energy storage system. In December 2024, the company increased the planned battery storage capacity to 800MWh, subsequently raising it to 904MWh, and with this announcement, further increased it to 963MWh. The company attributed the capacity growth to the higher energy density of next-generation containerized storage units. The current storage capacity is nearly five times the originally approved size, far exceeding the configuration considered during the development approval phase. The project has secured support under the Long-Term Energy Service Agreement (LTESA) framework of the New South Wales Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap. The LTESA provides supplementary revenue when wholesale electricity prices fall below a set threshold, reducing investor exposure to price volatility and accelerating capital investment in large-scale energy storage systems.
The Culcairn Solar Farm achieved commercial operations in May 2026, with a construction period of less than two years and a peak workforce of 600 personnel. The solar farm is equipped with approximately 760,000 photovoltaic modules and is the second-largest solar farm operated globally by Neoen Australia. It connects to the Australian National Electricity Market via a 330kV transmission line operated by Transgrid within the site. Neoen Australia has secured partial Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) for the Culcairn Solar Farm, with SmartestEnergy Australia agreeing to purchase 50% of its output over four years starting in 2026. The co-deployed battery energy storage system will generate additional revenue through energy time-shifting and grid ancillary services. The storage system adopts a behind-the-meter configuration, allowing Neoen Australia to optimize dispatch strategies for stored electricity independently of the solar farm's grid connection interface. The company noted that this is its first behind-the-meter storage project co-deployed with a solar farm.
The Culcairn solar-plus-storage project also achieved commercial application of robotics during construction. Luminous, with its AI-driven LUMI pick-and-place robot, won AUD 4.9 million (approximately USD 3.37 million) in Australia's "Solar Scale-Up Challenge" and deployed the robot to assist with photovoltaic module installation at the project, reducing construction time by approximately 25%.
As the Culcairn storage project commences, Neoen Australia is simultaneously advancing its energy storage project portfolio in New South Wales and energy facility construction in Queensland. The company's Western Downs Green Energy Hub in Queensland now includes a total of 845MW/2.3GWh of battery energy storage systems, with the first phase of 270MW/540MWh currently under deployment. In New South Wales, Neoen Australia's portfolio encompasses the Culcairn Solar Farm, the 238.5MW/477MWh Blyth Battery Energy Storage System, and a series of wind farms, solar farms, and storage projects. The company stated that by 2030, it will develop and deploy 10GW of renewable energy facilities in Australia.
