Frontier halts 120MW Waroona solar-plus-storage site in Western Australia

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
The first stage of the project will feature a 320MWh battery energy storage system (BESS). Image: Frontier Energy.

Renewable energy developer Frontier Energy has halted developing its 120MW solar-plus-storage project in Western Australia after it missed out on Reserve Capacity Credits (RCCs) from the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO).

The Waroona Renewable Energy Hub’s first stage would feature a 120MW solar PV power plant along with an 80MW/360MWh DC-coupled battery energy storage system (BESS). Once fully completed, Frontier said it would be one of Australia’s largest renewable energy projects, with a 1GW connection capacity.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Unlock unlimited access for 12 whole months of distinctive global analysis

Photovoltaics International is now included.

  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Unlimited digital access to the PV Tech Power journal catalogue
  • Unlimited digital access to the Photovoltaics International journal catalogue
  • Access to more than 1,000 technical papers
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

Waroona was provisionally assigned 87.2MW of Certified Reserve Capacity in August 2024, but Frontier missed out on securing RCCs in the final allocation process.

The Reserve Capacity Mechanism (RCM), which encompasses RCCs, ensures sufficient generation capacity in the South West interconnected system (SWIS). Generators in the Wholesale Electricity Market (WEM) receive a fixed dollar payment per megawatt from the AEMO based on the Reserve Capacity Price (RCP). These payments would be guaranteed for five years.

A Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) conducted by Frontier for the Waroona project estimated that RCM payments would provide up to AU$27 million (US$18.6 million) per annum of revenue in the project’s first stage. As such, Frontier employed a five-year strategy for the Waroona project, which factored in AEMO’s forecast of a ~1GW reserve capacity deficit in 2026/2027.

AEMO also said there was an urgent need for substantial new investment in generating capacity.

This article was first published on our sister site Energy-Storage.news.

Read Next

June 10, 2025
Australia’s Queensland government has confirmed an AU$2.4 billion investment in the CopperString transmission project, aiming to extend the National Electricity Market (NEM) to the North West Minerals Province.
June 9, 2025
Sonnedix has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Renfe to supply 420GWh of renewable energy annually for its commercial operations.
June 9, 2025
Growing political headwinds threaten to dent US solar manufacturing and project deployment, despite a strong start to 2025.
June 6, 2025
rPlus Energies has secured more than US$500 million for an 800MW solar-plus-storage project in Emery County, Utah, US.  
June 6, 2025
Australia’s Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) has called on Australia’s climate change and energy minister, Chris Bowen, to “urgently intervene” on a rule change that could threaten to derail the uptake of rooftop solar PV.
June 6, 2025
ElectraNet has revealed that renewables supplied 100% of South Australia's electricity demand for 27% of 2024, roughly 99 days.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
June 17, 2025
Napa, USA
Upcoming Webinars
June 30, 2025
10am PST / 6pm BST
Solar Media Events
July 1, 2025
London, UK
Solar Media Events
July 1, 2025
London, UK
Solar Media Events
September 16, 2025
Athens, Greece