Collie is a town of some 8,000 people north of Perth, and close to the western-most point in Australia. A 300-megawatt coal-power station by the same name operates nearby, but will decommission in 2027. Meanwhile, that power station continues to emit 2.5 pounds of CO2 for every kilowatt-hour of electricity it produces. The very large Collie battery storage system will provide an alternative service from 2026 going forward.
Key Numbers at Collie Battery Storage System
The giant four-hour-duration storage battery will be Australia’s largest to date, with 2,000 megawatt-hour capacity. It will come on line in stages, of which the following first two are under construction:
- Stage 1 will be 219 megawatts with 877 megawatt-hour capacity.
- Stage 2 will be 341 megawatts with 1,363 megawatt-hour capacity.
Once all phases are complete by 2026, the Collie battery storage system will be able to support 20% of the average demand on the local grid. This network serves 1.1 million customers including Perth, and most of the rest of South Western Australia.
More About the Giant Project in Context
The South Western Australian government is carrying the construction costs. Thus, Collie is part of an overall program to increase storage when renewable energy is unavailable. But it will also come in handy to help balance the network during peak consumer demand.
Locating the Collie battery storage system near the power station site, marks a significant point in the energy transition project. This is because the region has housed several coal-thermal power stations in the past, with high-voltage grid connections and power lines already in place.
However, Collie is only an early phase, of a giant project to decarbonize power generation in South Western Australia. The vast region is not electrically connected to the southern and south-eastern continent, and must stand alone. We are definitely entering a period of boom-time for batteries!
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World’s Largest Battery Storage System
