Australian energy major AGL has welcomed the approval in New South Wales (NSW) of a large-scale wind power plant with battery storage.
The NSW Independent Planning Commission (IPC) issued its decision last week (31 July) to approve the application for Pottinger Wind Farm.
The project will feature 1,300MW of wind power generation from 247 turbines and a 500MW, 4-hour duration (2,000MWh) battery energy storage system (BESS).
Generator-retailer (‘gentailer’) AGL has partnered with renewable energy developer Someva Renewables for Pottinger Wind Farm. Their joint venture (JV) was announced in March 2024.
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The New South Wales government fast-tracked the project by granting it state significant development (SSD) status. In May, the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure referred the joint venture’s project to the IPC for determination.
The commission noted in its statement of reasons for its decision that the project’s expected capital investment value is approximately AU$2 billion (US$1.29 billion). It is expected to create around 900 construction jobs and up to 40 operational jobs, with a construction period estimated to take around 55 months.
The IPC decision was made following meetings with stakeholders, including the applicants and relevant local councils, a site inspection visit, and a public consultation period. Development consent was granted on certain conditions, including obligations for AGL and Someva Renewables to minimise environmental impact.
Pottinger Wind Farm is being developed on a site in the village of Booroorban, which is in NSW’s central Riverina agricultural region.
The project will connect to a new 900km transmission line being built between the nearby NSW city of Wagga Wagga and substations in the neighbouring states of Victoria and South Australia.
South West REZ
Crucially, it is also sited within the state-designated South West Renewable Energy Zone (REZ). Hosting multiple gigawatts per site of renewable energy and storage across a mix of technologies that leverage existing and new transmission infrastructure buildout, REZ developments across Australia aim to replace the centralised role of thermal generation from fossil fuels.
The South West REZ is one of five to be planned for NSW so far. The first tender for its access rights was oversubscribed with over 15GW of projects bidding, versus an indicative target of 3.98GW. AEMO Services, which is overseeing tender processes, said in September that there was a high level of interest from hybrid projects pairing energy storage with either wind or solar PV.
Pottinger was awarded South West REZ access rights in April for an initial 831MW phase. At that time, Someva Renewables managing director Jamie Chivers said the development partners hoped to begin construction in late 2026.
“Pottinger Energy Park forms part of AGL’s ambition to add 12 GW of new renewable generation and firming by the end of 2035 and is progressing toward providing important renewable energy and storage for the NSW grid,” AGL general manager for power development, Travis Hughes, said.
Both Hughes and Chivers added that community engagement with local landholders, councils and First Nations Groups had formed an important part of the JV’s strategy to build up support for Pottinger.
REZ developments are still at a relatively early stage: EnergyCo of New South Wales, which has been appointed to plan infrastructure for the state’s first five projects, announced in late June that construction of transmission infrastructure to connect Central West Orana REZ, the country’s first, had begun.
AGL said in a LinkedIn post yesterday that the Pottinger project “has the potential to provide important renewable energy and storage for the NSW grid and drive economic growth in the Riverina region.”
The company is ranked as Australia’s largest energy company by generation capacity and customer numbers. It operates the largest generation portfolio in the National Electricity Market (NEM), which spans Australia’s major population hubs in the south and east. Its utility business serves more than four million customers.
In related news, AGL just awarded US-headquartered BESS system integrator and technology provider Fluence with its biggest single contract to date. As reported by Energy-Storage.news last week, Fluence will supply a 500MW/2,000MWh grid-forming BESS to AGL’s Tomago BESS, which is also in New South Wales.
UK-listed renewables investor completes DC-coupled project
In other renewables-plus-storage news from New South Wales, UK publicly listed renewable energy investment trust VH Global Energy Infrastructure has energised a solar-plus-storage hybrid project.
VH Global Energy Infrastructure announced the start of operation at the DC-coupled solar PV site, which features a 4.95MW, 2-hour duration BESS (9.9MWh). The company said it is one of a portfolio of seven assets across NSW, Queensland and South Australia, comprising 37MW/60MWh of capacity in total, with one more project to be completed during this quarter.
VH Global’s funds are managed by Victory Hill Capital Partners, a London-headquartered private equity and infrastructure investor focused on energy and energy-related projects.
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