AGL seeks federal green tick for third big battery in Hunter region

Australia’s biggest coal generator AGL Energy is seeking a federal green tick for a two-hour big battery project it proposes to build adjacent to an existing substation in the heart of New South Wales coal country – its third big battery in the Hunter Valley.

The proposed Beresfield battery energy storage system (BESS) is proposed for an industrial area in Newcastle and will have a total capacity of up to 170 megawatts (MW) and 340 megawatt‑hours (MWh) of usable storage capacity.

It joins the queue with NSW state development approval already locked in, having been secured back in early 2024 by the project’s original developer, Firm Power. AGL bought Firm Power and its pipeline of six battery projects in August of 2024.

Impressively, Firm managed to get the Beresfield BESS through the notoriously slow and costly NSW development approval process in just six months, at the time citing the benefits of an improved process from the NSW Department of Planning and Environment (DPE).

AGL has been rapidly growing its battery storage portfolio – both big and small – and is betting on BESS as a major cash cow for the company in the transition to renewables and flexible capacity.

It is building the 500 MW, 1,000 MWh Liddell battery further up the valley at the site of the now shuttered coal fired power station, and has also committed to a 500 MW, 2,000 MWh closer to Newcastle at Tomago.

At the company’s annual results presentation in August, CEO Damien Nicks and chief financial officer Gary Brown made it clear that the company’s focus – like those of the other major utilities Origin Energy and EnergyAustralia – is on storage rather than wind and solar.

In the referral documents for the Beresfield BESS, AGL says the proposed project area and disturbance footprint have a “significant disturbance history” associated with historical industrial land use.

Hunter Wetlands National Park is located 2.5 km to the south-east of the proposed site, but is separated from it by light industrial land uses, the New England Highway and John Renshaw Drive, the documents say.

“Due to the mixture of land uses in the immediate area, the disturbance footprint has no connectivity with vegetation in adjoining lands,” the referral says.

It now remains to be seen how quickly the project can make its way through the federal EPBC Act.

If you wish to support independent media, and accurate information, please consider making a one off donation or becoming a regular supporter of Renew Economy. Your support is invaluable.