Energy—Battery installation—Collie
477. Hon Dr Steve Thomasto theLeader of the House representing the Minister for Energy and Decarbonisation:
I refer to my question without notice 844 of 15 August 2023 on the Collie battery energy storage system (CBESS) construction including employment numbers versus actual jobs, and to the minister's media release of 23 April 2025 announcing that CBESS had all 640 batteries and 160 inverters now installed.
(1) Is CBESS now complete and contributing power to the grid and, if not, when will this occur?
(2) On what will the budgeted $200 million in expenditure for 2025–26 be spent?
(3) With the completion of installation of Synergy's CBESS, how many permanent full-time and part-time jobs are now directly associated with CBESS and how many of those will there be in one year's time?
(4) How many of those jobs are located in Collie?
Hon Stephen Dawson replied:
I thank the honourable member for some notice of the question.
(1) CBESS is currently entering testing and commissioning, which will be completed in late 2025, consistent with originally scheduled timelines.
(2) Final construction costs, milestone payments to contractors, completion of the commissioning process, network interconnection, insurance and project management.
(3)–(4) Operational staffing requirements have not been finalised.
