UK-based renewable energy developer RES has unveiled plans to build a 250 megawatt battery at Brandy Hill near Seaham.
The 250MW/600MWh project would be located next to Ausgrid's substation on Clarence Town Road.
The state significant development project would form part of the Hunter Renewable Energy Zone, one of five zones being created by the state government to manage the switch from coal to renewables.
"The Brandy Hill Energy Storage development will fit within the current strategic direction of the NSW and Australian energy generation market and assist in achieving the planned transition to an increased contribution of renewable energy to Australia's energy needs," the company's website said.
The company is currently seeking community feedback as it waits for a state government Secretary's Environmental Assessment Requirements to outline what will be required from an environmental impact statement.
The company said it hoped to submit a development application to the NSW Department of Planning and Environment in April. If the planning and approval process runs well, construction could start in 2025 and the project could be commissioned in 2027.
RES, which manages some 3000MW of wind and solar assets across the country, recently installed the last of its 230m high turbines at its Dulacca wind farm in Queensland's Western Downs region.
Meanwhile energy company Firm Power last month announced that was seeking community input into a proposal to build a 200 megawatt battery at Beresfield.
The project, to be located on a 1.5 hectare site next to the existing substation in Whites Road, would form part of a Hunter Dispatchable Energy System.
In addition to Beresfield, the system includes battery projects at Awaba and Muswellbrook.
The system aims to create a distributed stand-alone battery system for the Hunter region, which balances the grid and supports the future uptake of renewable energy in NSW.
Three large scale batteries have already been announced in the Hunter: a 500 megawatt grid-scale battery project at Liddell power station, a similar 700 megawatt project at Eraring power station and the 700 megawatt Macquarie battery at the site of the former Munmorah power station.
Energy minister and treasurer Matt Kean said in October that construction was expected to begin in early 2023, pending approval, and would be completed by mid-2025 in advance of Eraring Power Station's earliest closure date.
