The battery, with an approved dispatch capacity of 500MW, will sit within the Wallerawang power station site where two 500MW coal-fired generating units were decommissioned in 2014. The BESS will be known as ‘Wallerawang 9’, acknowledging decades of operation of units 1 through 8 within the site, and honouring the role Lithgow has played in meeting the nation’s energy needs.
Shell Energy will be responsible for the grid connection process and, subject to a Final Investment Decision, is planning to build, own and operate the battery on 20 hectares of land to be leased from Greenspot. A further 200 hectares of the 620-hectare site has been identified by Greenspot as an employment hub for a range of future facing and high-tech industries.
Redevelopment
Greenspot, a privately owned group from New South Wales, was established to acquire and repurpose property assets, primarily from the fossil fuel industry. The company works with communities, government, native inhabitants and other key stakeholders to optimise economic and social outcomes in the transition to a circular, sustainable energy economy.
Image: demolition of the Wallerawang coal-fired power station in 2021, libertyindustrial/YouTube
