THE French renewable energy company that wants to build a $200 million solar farm at Eglinton near Bathurst also has its sights set on Wallerawang, near Lithgow.
Neoen is proposing what it says is a large scale Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) about two kilometres from the Wallerawang town centre.
It will hold a community information session on the project on February 3 at the village's Commercial Hotel.
The project is considered a state significant development, so the decision on its approval will not be in the hands of Lithgow Council.
The company met in closed session with Lithgow Council and some stakeholders - including the Rural Fire Service - in mid-December to outline the plan for the mega battery hub.
There is only one other such battery farm in the country and that's in South Australia, where Neoen worked with Tesla on the project.
Neoen says the Wallerawang project would involve the construction and operation of a BESS with a generation capacity of around 500 megawatts and a storage capacity of up to 1000 megawatt hours.
"The project seeks to provide a critical element of the expanding renewable energy industry and future capacity and resilience of the NSW energy network through providing a large scale energy storage system," the company said.
It would operate "unlike any other current device connected to the NSW network" and would connect to an existing Transgrid substation.
The battery farm is expected to have a 20 year operational life.
Neoen said it hopes to begin construction this year and for the Wallerawang project to be fully operational by 2023.
The company says there will be between 150 and 200 employees on site during the peak construction period, but it's unclear how many permanent positions will be offered afterwards.
No decision has yet been made on Neoen's proposed Eglinton project, which is also a state significant development.
- This story first appeared in the Western Advocate