OX2’s 1.2GW wind and 400MWh battery project in Western Australia shows how co-located renewables and storage will define the next era of green technology.
How a 1.2GW wind farm and 400MWh battery reshape WA’s grid
Most companies talk about “energy transition” in PowerPoint. Western Australia is quietly wiring it into the ground.
With its acquisition of the 1.2GW Dinner Hill Wind Farm and the 100MW/400MWh Harvest Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), OX2 isn’t just buying assets. It’s buying a strategic position in how a modern, renewables-heavy grid will actually work.
This matters because green technology is no longer about adding more wind and solar. It’s about integrating them so the grid stays stable, investors get bankable projects, and communities see real benefits. Co-located wind and battery projects are one of the smartest ways to do that.
This article breaks down what OX2’s Western Australia move really means: for the South West Interconnected System (SWIS), for green technology adoption, and for anyone planning large-scale clean energy or grid-scale storage.
The project in plain language: size, design, and timing
OX2 has acquired two linked projects in Western Australia:
- Dinner Hill Wind Farm – up to 1.2GW capacity, around 160 turbines
- Harvest BESS – a 100MW / 400MWh, 4‑hour battery energy storage system
Both connect to the South West Interconnected System (SWIS), Western Australia’s main grid serving Perth and a broad southwest region.
What makes this acquisition strategic?
The acquisition gives OX2:
- A multi‑gigawatt foothold in an advanced renewables market
- A co‑located asset pair (wind + storage) that can be optimised as a single flexible resource
- A long runway: Harvest BESS targeted for 2029, Dinner Hill wind for 2032, subject to approvals and grid connection agreements
The wind farm will connect via a terminal station to the 330kV Neerabup–Eneabba transmission line, a major backbone of the SWIS. The battery itself occupies only about 4.2 hectares within a broader 1,630‑hectare project area.
The reality? This isn’t a one‑off project. It’s a template for what future grids will need: large, variable renewable generation backed by dispatchable, AI‑optimised storage.
Why pairing wind and battery storage is so powerful
Co-locating wind and BESS at grid scale solves three painful problems at once: variability, congestion, and system stability.
1. Smoothing wind’s variability
Wind doesn’t blow to match the morning or evening demand peaks. A 4‑hour, 400MWh battery lets operators:
- Store excess power during high‑wind, low‑demand periods
- Release it during peak demand or low‑wind events
- Offer “firmed” renewable contracts that look and feel more like traditional generation to the market
A 100MW battery can ramp from zero to full output in milliseconds. That’s gold in a grid with rising shares of variable renewable energy.
2. Reducing curtailment and congestion
As more renewables connect to the SWIS, periods of congestion and curtailment become inevitable.
A co‑located BESS gives the wind farm a pressure valve:
- When the line is constrained, some energy is stored instead of curtailed
- Later, that stored power can be exported when the network is freer, or prices are higher
- This improves project revenues and grid utilisation at the same time
If you’re a developer or investor, this is the practical difference between a project that looks big on paper and one that actually earns its keep over 20+ years.
3. Providing critical grid services
OX2 has pointed to frequency regulation and renewable energy firming as core roles for Harvest BESS. In a modern green technology stack, this is where batteries shine.
A project like Harvest can:
- Provide Fast Frequency Response (FFR) and primary frequency control
- Offer inertia‑like grid support via grid‑forming inverters (if deployed)
- Help ride through disturbances and reduce the risk of cascading outages
In other words, it’s not only storing energy. It’s actively helping operate the SWIS as more fossil plants retire.
How green technology and AI will run projects like Dinner Hill & Harvest
Here’s the thing about large wind‑plus‑storage projects: hardware is only half the story. The other half is software—much of it powered by AI.
Smart dispatch and revenue optimisation
A 1.2GW wind farm and a 100MW battery will interact with multiple markets and system needs:
- Energy markets (wholesale price arbitrage)
- Ancillary services (frequency, contingency, reserves)
- Potential future capacity mechanisms
Modern energy management systems (EMS) use AI and advanced forecasting to:
- Predict wind output and demand patterns hours to days ahead
- Anticipate price spikes or negative pricing events
- Optimise when to charge, discharge, or curtail so the combined asset maximises value
I’ve found that projects that under‑invest in this optimisation layer often leave 10–20% of potential revenue on the table. The physical plant is large, but the financial performance is average.
Grid stability, modelled in software
The more renewables you add to a grid like the SWIS, the more you care about stability events that last seconds, not hours.
AI‑driven tools can:
- Simulate fault scenarios and dynamic responses of wind + BESS
- Tune inverter controls and dispatch strategies to avoid tripping during disturbances
- Coordinate multiple assets region‑wide to support system operators
Projects like Dinner Hill and Harvest will almost certainly be planned, tested, and operated with heavy use of digital twins and high‑fidelity grid models—core pieces of today’s green technology stack.
Data as a long‑term asset
Over years of operation, a co‑located wind + storage site generates enormous amounts of data:
- Turbine performance and degradation profiles
- Battery health, cycle patterns, and thermal behaviour
- Weather and localized wind characteristics
- Market response patterns to different dispatch strategies
Used well, that data can:
- Extend battery life by optimising cycling
- Improve turbine maintenance scheduling
- Refine project designs for future sites in similar climate and grid conditions
This is where green technology stops being “a project” and becomes a learning system across a multi‑GW portfolio—something OX2 is clearly building in Australia and globally.
What it means for Western Australia and the SWIS
Western Australia is one of the most interesting testbeds for green technology right now: isolated grid, strong resources, and growing decarbonisation pressure.
SWIS is moving from fossil‑centric to renewables‑centric
Historically, the SWIS has leaned heavily on gas and coal. With large projects like Dinner Hill and Harvest entering the pipeline, the balance keeps shifting:
- More hours per year with high renewable penetration
- Greater reliance on inverter‑based resources instead of synchronous generation
- Stronger need for storage and flexible demand
The Harvest BESS will help bridge that gap by:
- Providing firming for wind output
- Supporting system strength with fast, controllable power
- Potentially acting as a regional anchor asset for grid services
Local economy and community impacts
OX2 has flagged community engagement starting in late 2025, working with:
- Local communities in the Shire of Dandaragan
- Dandaragan Shire Council
- Traditional Custodians and First Nations stakeholders
Done well, that leads to:
- Construction and operations jobs in regional WA
- Direct community benefit programs (education, training, local infrastructure)
- More durable social licence to operate, which is crucial for projects that stretch across decades
Most companies get this wrong by treating community engagement as a tick‑box exercise at the end of development. The smarter approach—what OX2 is signaling—is to embed it early and keep it ongoing.
Lessons for developers, investors, and policymakers
Dinner Hill and Harvest are more than a single transaction story. They highlight where large‑scale green technology is heading and how to position for it.
For developers: design with storage from day one
If you’re planning new wind or solar in 2025 and beyond, building it without at least planning for co‑located storage is risky.
Practical steps:
- Plan grid connection assuming a hybrid asset, not just generation
- Model curtailment scenarios and quantify how storage improves economics
- Secure EMS and optimisation partners early—software is part of the plant, not an add‑on
For investors: value the “flexibility premium”
A pure‑play wind farm and a wind‑plus‑BESS hybrid might have similar capex per MW, but their risk and revenue profiles aren’t comparable.
Look for:
- Ability to capture ancillary services revenue
- Flexibility to adapt to future market rule changes
- Strong, data‑driven operational strategies, not just P50 energy forecasts
Projects like Harvest show where the market is headed: flexibility is bankable.
For policymakers and regulators: enable hybrids, not fragments
Regulatory frameworks that treat storage, wind, and solar as totally separate assets slow everything down.
If you’re on the policy side, enabling:
- Hybrid registration and dispatch models
- Clear rules for co‑located assets on the same connection point
- Long‑term signals for storage duration and grid services
…will get you more Dinner Hill‑type projects and fewer stranded renewable megawatts.
How this fits into the wider green technology story
Across this Green Technology series, one pattern keeps showing up: scale alone doesn’t solve the climate or energy reliability problem. Smart integration does.
OX2’s move in Western Australia is a textbook example:
- Massive renewable capacity (1.2GW of wind)
- Backed by dispatchable storage (100MW/400MWh BESS)
- Operated through advanced software, AI, and data systems
- Nested inside a clear community and regional development agenda
If you’re planning your own clean energy strategy—whether as a utility, corporate offtaker, or developer—the question isn’t “Should we add storage?” anymore.
The better questions are:
- How early can we integrate storage and digital control into project design?
- What mix of renewables + storage gives us reliable, price‑stable energy?
- Where can co‑located assets reduce our grid and connection risk?
Projects like Dinner Hill and Harvest show that the next phase of green technology isn’t about single technologies winning. It’s about smart combinations—hardware, software, and community—working as one system.
Featured image prompt
Aerial view of a vast Western Australian landscape at golden hour, showing a large wind farm with dozens of modern turbines and a nearby grid-scale battery installation with white containerized units, connected to high-voltage transmission lines, under a clear sky with soft warm light, professional realistic photography style, clean and optimistic mood.