Its Goyder South complex would include up to 1.2GW of wind power and 600MW of solar PV, plus 900MW of battery storage, according to the South Australian government.

The project would be built in three stages, with the first set to include 400MW of wind, 200MW of solar PV, plus 300MW of battery storage.

Completion of Goyder South’s second and third stages would depend on the construction of a 330kV, 900km high-voltage interconnector between South Australia and New South Wales.

Transmission system operators (TSOs) ElectraNet and TransGrid are aiming for the Project Energy Connect transmission line to be completed in 2022 or 2023.

Goyder South’s 900MW battery storage component would be nine times the capacity of the 100MW/129MWh Tesla battery attached to its 314MW Hornsdale wind farm.

Elon Musk’s US firm provided the lithium-ion battery — reported to be the largest in the world — following a series of blackouts in South Australia in 2016.

Neoen is one of four wind developers being sued by the Australian Energy Regulator for failing to ensure their projects "complied with their generator performance standard requirement to ride-through certain disturbances" during the South Australia blackout.

The French firm is also developing the Kaban Green Power Hub in Queensland and the Bulgana Green Power Hub in Victoria, Both are wind farms with battery storage attached.

Auction

Elsewhere, the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) has launched a reverse auction to contract up to 250MW of new renewable energy generation and up to 20MW/40MWh of battery storage.

The federal district aims to source 100% of its electricity from renewables.

It currently has no operational wind farms, according to Windpower Intelligence, the research and data division of Windpower Monthly.