News

The federal NEPA has decided that ZEBRE’s proposed Noblevale Battery Energy Storage System does not require approval under the EPBC Act.

The 180 MW/360 MWh Noblevale BESS project is planned on a repurposed mining site in the Swanbank Industrial Area near Bundamba Creek, Ipswich, in south-east Queensland.

Ipswich City Council approved the development application for the project in December last year. Construction is planned to begin in September 2027, for operations to start in June 2029.

According to ZEBRE pre-lodgement meetings held with TNSP Powerlink indicated there is sufficient hosting capacity at the 275kV Blackstone Sub-station for the project to connect to the grid.

However another project that intends to connect to the Blackstone Sub-station named after that piece of infrastructure, the 500 MW / 2000 MWh Blackstone BESS, has been put forward for approval under the EPBC Act.

The project is proposed within an area of approximately 7.25 hectares within the Swanbank–New Chum industrial precinct on land already disturbed by open-cut and underground coal mining activities.

Next steps following EPBC Act approval would see Octopus complete project financing and achieving financial close, leading to the execution of the EPC and long-term service agreement with Tesla.

Connection and access agreements with Powerlink Queensland will also be executed for an extension of the Blackstone Sub-station and installation of high-voltage underground cables.

Octopus is planning to achieve FID and issue a Notice to Proceed for construction to start in November this year, continuing through until Q1 2029.

Another BESS project in the wider Swanbank area, CleanCo’s 250 MW / 500 MWh Swanbank BESS, has been operating since Q1 this year.