ACE Power Gains Green Light for 200-MW Wheatbelt Solar-Battery Project

• ACE Power secures approval for a 200-MW solar farm and four-hour battery near Narrogin, unlocking A$400 million investment and 230 construction jobs in Western Australia.

Western Australia’s Wheatbelt has cleared space for its next clean-energy heavyweight. The state’s Regional Joint Development Assessment Panel has unanimously approved ACE Power’s plan to build a 200-MW solar farm backed by a four-hour, 200-MW/800-MWh battery on farmland just south of Narrogin, about 190 kilometres south-east of Perth. The A$400-million (US$260 million) hybrid plant will connect to Western Australia’s grid at the Narrogin South substation, feeding power into the state’s Wholesale Energy Market once construction wraps up.

ACE Power’s blueprint slots neatly into the emerging Narrogin Renewable Energy Zone, where a cluster of solar, wind and battery projects is beginning to take shape. Shire president Leigh Ballard hailed the decision as “another step toward regional economic transformation,” though local councillors had pressed state planners to make a community fund and public-art levy binding conditions. Those requests were relegated to non-binding “advice notes,” leaving the developer under strong encouragement—rather than obligation—to share benefits with residents.

Numbers attached to the permit are hard to ignore. Project data indicate the solar farm and battery could power roughly 64,000 homes while avoiding 137,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year. Construction is expected to support about 230 temporary jobs, with nine ongoing roles once the plant is operational. ACE Power says sheep grazing will continue beneath the panel rows, preserving the site’s agricultural character and providing extra income for landowners.

Developers have outlined a rapid timetable: final engineering and procurement work is slated for early 2026, with ground breaking later that year and full commercial operation in 2028. Those dates align with Western Australia’s push to replace retiring coal units and hit its 2030 target of sourcing 80 percent of generation from renewables during periods of low demand.

Grid operators are equally keen on the co-located battery, which will dispatch stored solar power into evening peaks and offer frequency-control services across the South West Interconnected System. A neighbouring 200-MW/800-MWh battery from South Energy already holds approval, underscoring Narrogin’s potential as a storage hub.

For ACE Power, the permit is a pivotal milestone—one that shifts the project from glossy renders to procurement calls and, ultimately, steel and silicon in the Wheatbelt sun.