ASX Renewable Energy Stocks: A battery 4 times bigger than Tesla's big SA one is on the cards for WA's Collie region

WA’s coal centre could be home to 800MWh battery and new green hydrogen hub
Li-S Energy gains new facility to increase production capacity to over a thousand cells per week
Bioenergy company DEL raises $4.5m

Renewable energy consultancy, Sunshot Energy, chaired by energy expert Ross Garnaut, is proposing to develop a downstream green energy hub in Western Australia’s Collie region as it transitions away from coal.

Up to $1 million in funding has been approved for the first stage of a feasibility study into the Collie Battery and Hydrogen Industrial Hub Project to assess the economic case for a hydrogen electrolyser, powered by renewable energy, which could also produce green ammonia and urea for agricultural and industrial uses.

A key feature of the hub would be a 600 to 800-megawatt hour battery to provide renewable energy to new and existing industrial projects in Collie – around four times the size of Tesla’s big battery in South Australia.

WA Regional Development Minister Alannah MacTiernan said it makes sense for Collie, which is at the heart of the South-West energy system.

Should the economic case be successful, the project is estimated to create $730 million of new investment in green industries and decarbonisation initiatives, including 500 construction and 400 ongoing jobs for the region.

In addition, the low-cost energy generated by the hub will advantage existing businesses in Collie and encourage the expansion of manufacturing and minerals processing.

Li-S Energy snaps up new facility and increases production capabilities

Lithium-sulphur (Li-S) battery focused company Li-S Energy (ASX:LIS) has expanded its production capabilities with a new facility in Geelong, allowing for an annual production capacity increase to more than 1 megawatt hours each year.

The company signed a three-year Heads of Lease Terms with Deakin University with two additional three-year options for more than 1,000 sqm of dedicated space at the University’s ManuFutures 3 facility on the Waurn Ponds campus.

Over the coming months, Li-S says plans are in place to install a large dry room as well as significant commercial equipment in the facility to enable the production capacity to scale from its current limited capacity to over a thousand cells per week.

The new facility also has several adjoining research labs to ensure close and ongoing cooperation between research and production teams.

Completion of the new facility will be a critical step in commercialisation, allowing the company to produce consistent high quality, commercial-grade cells and packs for testing and utilising by partners.

“This state-of-the-art facility will demonstrate the scalability of our industry leading IP on lithium sulphur and lithium metal battery technology,” LIS said this morning.

Li-S Energy (ASX:LIS) share price today

Delorean raises $4.5mn, fast-tracking infrastructure pipeline

Bioenergy company Delorean Corporation (ASX:DEL) has completed a placement of 26.47m shares at 0.17c, raising $4.5m to support its growing infrastructure development pipeline.

This growth includes signing of an EPC contract for delivery of Yarra Valley Water’s $40-50m bioenergy facility with an additional operations contract for two years for $7.3m, which is in the advanced final stages of negotiation.

Project financing, led by Planum Partners, has progressed to the final stages and DEL says it will update the market once a binding term sheet is available, targeted for release in Q2-Q3.