Two new big batteries in Queensland seek federal green tick

Two new big battery projects in Queensland have lodged applications for approval under the federal environmental process, including one in the industrial city of Gladstone that is facing the early closure of its coal fired power station.

Eku Energy is proposing the 300 megawatt (MW), four hour Byellee battery energy storage system near Gladstone, one of half a dozen big battery projects marked down for the surrounding areas.

Interestingly, it is seeking information from the federal government on whether the project requires detailed oversight under the EPBC before it submits to the now more rigorous state-based planning approvals.

The other Queensland battery project submitted to the EPBC this week is from Korean industrial giant Samsung C&T, which has referred its 150 MW, 300 megawatt hour (MWh) Dunmore BESS and neighbouring 300 MW solar project.

Rio Tinto this week flagged the possible early closure of the 1,680 MW Gladstone coal-fired power station in 2029, when its subsidised electricity contracts will expire.

While Rio Tinto says it’s made no final decision on retiring the power station yet, it has made clear that the future of its smelters and refineries in Gladstone depend on a switch to renewables and storage. It has already signed MoUs for three major wind, solar and battery projects.,

The Byellee BESS proposal is one of six big batteries that are under development around Gladstone.  Only Acciona’s 400 MW, 800 MWh Aldoga BESS, an extension of the eponymous solar farm next to it, has been approved by state authorities, however. 

Furthermore, Eku Energy has referred the BESS to the federal EPBC process before lodging a planning application in a state where the rules for non-coal or gas generation are now hazy. 

New rules set in June require wind and solar projects to have a community benefit agreement in hand before lodging an application, but not big batteries. Further details are expected to be released next week in the state government’s new energy plan.

The Byellee sits has been used for cattle grazing, although there are pockets of threatened flora which led the developer to refer it to the EPBC. 

These pockets include vulnerable temperate coastal saltmarsh and endangered subtropical eucalypt floodplain woodland which offer foraging and potential nesting habitats for the vulnerable water mice, grey-headed flying-fox and the squatter pigeon, as well as supporting a range of shorebirds. 

The Byellee BESS will sit about 7km west of Gladstone and hook into the nearby Powerlink-owned Calliope River substation on the main trunk transmission line into the city. It will be one of nine batteries Eku Energy is developing or runs in Australia.

In the south of the state, the Dunmore solar-BESS is further forward than Eku’s latest project, as it won development approval for both a year ago.

The hybrid project will be built on a 534-hectare site about 240km west of the Brisbane, and construction is pencilled in to start in 2027. 

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