Australian contractor UGL and EV maker Tesla have been chosen to carry out an expansion of the Western Downs Battery project in Queensland for renewable energy specialist Neoen.

At present, Western Downs can store 400MWh of energy; when expanded, the battery will be able to story 540MWh.

UGL said in January that it had been appointed to install Tesla’s Megapack 2XL units at the storage site, located around 250km west of Brisbane. Today’s announcement extends UGL’s work at the project.

The site is adjacent to Neoen’s 460MW Western Downs solar farm. As well as the Queensland site, the company, which is based in Paris, has the 150MW Hornsdale Power Reserve in South Australia and the 300MW Victorian Big Battery, currently under construction near Geelong.

When complete around the end of next year, the battery will stabilise the Queensland grid.

Juan Santamaría, the chief executive of UGL parent Hochtief, said: “The extended Western Downs Battery will play an important role in transitioning the energy mix in the national energy market and will support Queensland’s transition towards 70% renewable energy by 2032.”

UGL managing director Doug Moss added: “UGL’s track record in the design, construction and operation of renewables assets is extensive and includes 13 utility scale solar farms and six large-scale battery energy storage systems. Construction works at the Western Downs Battery are under way and we are proud to extend this important work for our client.”