Shell, Foresight enter joint venture to develop 370MW RE projects in Australia

The projects include wind and solar farms, and battery storage.

Shell unit Shell Energy Operations and infrastructure manager Foresight formed a joint venture to acquire development rights for a 370-megawatt (MW) renewables project in West Australia.

In a statement, Foresight said the Australian Renewables Income Fund (ARIF) it managed, and Shell have a 50/50 stake in the partnership to acquire the Kondinin Energy Development from Lacour Energy and Glodwind International Holdings.

The project is composed of various stages, with a 121ME wind farm as the first stage. The Stage 2 option is a 114MW wind farm, whilst the solar project is situated on 125 hectares of land with a total capacity of up to 80MW.

READ MORE: Renewables investment in Australia reachers $1.56b in June 2022

The battery energy storage system meanwhile has a total storage capacity of up to 160MW/120MWh.

Foresight said the project is close to the existing Western Power 220-kilovolt transmission line, which it will tap to connect to the grid. The construction of the 121MW wind farm is expected to start in 2024, pending a final investment decision.

The completion of the transaction brings ARIF’s investment in operating renewable energy generation assets with a total capacity of 787MW in wind, hydro, and solar. It will also bring its development pipeline to over 3,000MW of wind, hydro, solar, and storage opportunities.