Macquarie backed storage develop seeks local and federal approvals for new Queensland big battery project

Macquarie-backed Eku Energy wants to put a 300 megawatt (MW), 1,200 megawatt hour (MWh) battery near Lake Monduran in Queensland, launching both development and environmental applications in the last month. 

The Monduran BESS will have its own 132 kilovolt (kV) connection into the Gin Gin substation, about 500m away. 

Eku Energy is hoping its battery will be operational in 2028, after an 18-24 month construction period that would see up to 150 people working 12 hour days, six days a week. 

The developer’s referral to the federal EPBC process is due to the potential consequences of clearing habitats for koalas, diamond firetails, squatter pigeons, white-throated needletails, grey-headed flying-foxes, fork-tailed swifts, and oriental cuckoos. 

At issue are mature trees that might have hollows in which birds could nest, but Eku’s EPBC referral says only five of these are inside the 13.3 hectare footprint of where it needs to build the battery. 

“No Threatened Ecological Communities (TECs) have been identified in this area,” the referral says.

“Key habitat features, such as hollow-bearing trees and vegetation corridors that provide critical habitat for threatened species, are predominantly located outside the project footprint within surrounding remnant and riparian vegetation.

“Throughout the Project Footprint, weed infestations are evident, including several restricted and weeds of national significance species such as lantana, indian bluegrass, and thatch grass.”

Eku Energy began working on the project in mid 2024, which is when Iberdrola lodged its planning application for a battery that will be just down the road from the Monduran BESS.

That project shows what kind of reception Eku Energy might be likely to expect, 

Iberdrola’s 500 MW, 1000 MWh Bundaberg Regional battery, started the planning process In May last year and has attracted a number of opponents and supporters. 

The submissions covered locals keen to see jobs and revenue from the community benefit program be spent in the area, and others worried about the risk of fire both closing the Bruce highway and taking up water resources.

Eku Energy’s latest EPBC application comes in hot after a similar referral for the 300 MW, four hour Byellee battery near Gladstone, one of half a dozen big battery projects marked down for the surrounding areas.

It also unveiled the 400 MW, 1,600 MWh Belah battery 16 kms south of Chinchilla in the Western Downs region in September.

The UK-based company is developing, building or running 11 different batteries in Australia and New Zealand, according to data from RenewMap.

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