French independent power producer (IPP) Neoen Australia has increased the size of the battery energy storage system (BESS) co-located at the 440MWp Culcairn solar PV power plant in New South Wales.
In a statement last week, Neoen Australia said it had increased the size of the BESS to up to 800MWh in December 2024. However, this has been increased further to 904MWh.
When construction of the PV plant began in late 2023, Neoen was planning to add a 100MW/200MWh BESS. Neoen did not reveal the planned output, and therefore the duration, of the co-located BESS In its new statement. Energy-Storage.news has contacted the company for this information and will update this story in due course.
The organisation attributed the increase to higher energy densities per container unit. Neoen Australia also announced that it is preparing to launch the procurement process for a BESS supplier.
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All other parts of the project’s parameters remain consistent with the December 2024 modification.
Construction on the BESS element of the solar-plus-storage site is estimated to begin in early 2026.
Neoen Australia had previously targeted the project’s full operationality in 2026; however, it noted that the BESS will require less construction activity than the solar PV power plant.
The Culcairn solar PV plant is being developed near the town of Culcairn in the south-east Murray region of the state. The region is a busy agricultural centre, and Culcairn is often called the ‘Oasis of the Riverina’.
Development approval and project costs
Neoen secured development consent from the New South Wales Department of Planning, Industry and Environment for Culcairn in March 2021, despite receiving 50 complaints from members of the public.
The project is estimated to cost around AU$636 million (US$415 million) to develop.
As reported by our sister site PV Tech, the project entered the commissioning phase in June 2025, with Neoen Australia confirming that 760,000 solar modules had been installed.
The plant will operate for 30 years and connect to the National Electricity Market (NEM) via an on-site 330kV transmission line managed by TransGrid.
The Culcairn solar-plus-storage site will initially supply energy retailer SmartestEnergy Australia with 50% of the energy generated over the first four years, per a power purchase agreement (PPA) signed last year.
The site is also one of the locations where Luminous, the recent awardee of Australia’s Solar ScaleUp Challenge, has deployed its AI-powered pick-and-place LUMI robot to assist with construction.
Western Downs BESS and grid-forming capabilities
Last month, Neoen Australia started operations at its 270MW/540MWh Western Downs stage one BESS in Queensland. A second BESS, stage two of the wider project, is expected to be operational sometime in 2026, increasing the site’s overall storage capacity to 540MW/1,080MWh.
As reported by Energy-Storage.news earlier this year, the second stage of the Western Downs BESS was confirmed via a 10-year “virtual battery” agreement with Australian energy major AGL Energy.
The two BESS will provide grid-forming capabilities for the grid and the NEM.
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