Swedish-based developer OX2 has acquired a proposed 1GW onshore wind farm in Western Australia, which includes plans for a 100MW co-located battery energy storage system (BESS).
The onshore wind farm, situated to the north of the state capital, Perth, is still in the early stages of its development cycle. OX2 will continue to manage the approval processes.
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The size of the BESS, revealed yesterday (14 October), is not set in stone and could be increased or decreased throughout the development process. The developer said that the BESS will be developed before the wind farm.
Rachel Watson, country manager at OX2 Australia, said the project is OX2’s first onshore wind project in Australia, marking a “great achievement” in the company’s goals for the country.
“We look forward to realising this project, which is our first in Western Australia. Australia is on the road to decarbonisation and has great opportunities to leverage its natural resources with excellent conditions for wind and solar power,” Watson said.
In 2023, OX2 made its debut in the Australian market by acquiring solar PV developer ESCO Pacific. The company recently started selling some of its solar PV assets, with PV Tech previously reporting that an undisclosed buyer had purchased the 119MW Horsham Solar Farm in Victoria, as well as two projects totalling 137MW, which were acquired by renewable energy developer European Energy.
The Horsham project is anticipated to feature a 50MW/100MWh BESS on-site, and the annual production from the site is estimated to be 242GWh.
Commenting on the previous sale of the solar PV projects, Watson said the company had enhanced its team since entering the Australian market and is making significant progress with late-stage projects aimed at financial closure.
“Since our entry to Australia last year, we have strengthened our local team, and a lot of work has gone into getting the late-stage projects ready for financial close. We have a solid project development portfolio and there is currently a lot of activity both in our solar and energy storage projects.” Watson said.
In the European market, OX2 recently sold a 50MW/110MWh BESS project in Finland to L&G NTR Clean Power (Europe) Fund, a partnership between investors Legal & General (L&G) and NTR.
The Uusnivala project is just shy of being the largest BESS project being built currently in the Nordic country, which at present would be a 56.4MW/112.9MWh system from IPP Neoen. OX2 didn’t reveal when the project is expected to come online.
