News

Lightsource bp has been awarded an amended planning permit for its West Mokoan Solar Farm near Benalla in the Hume Region of Victoria, and is now proceeding towards construction.

The project consists of a 300 MW AC / 388 MW DC solar farm and battery energy storage system located on two separate sites covering 713 hectares of land.

The BESS configuration is for approximately 224 BESS units with 6250 kWh nominal capacity each, for a total capacity of 140 MW, connected to 112 central inverters.

The project will be connected to the 220kV Benalla Terminal Station.

Appointment of the EPC and operation and maintenance contractors is scheduled to start as early as next month with procurement, detailed design and early works starting in Q4 2026.

Full mobilisation and site works are expected to begin from Q1 2027 with completion anticipated in May 2029.

Construction of the project is expected to provide up to 450 full time roles.

West Mokoan Solar Farm and BESS was successful in federal Capacity Investment Scheme Tender 1.

The amended permit merged the southern site called Kennedys Creek and the northern site called West Mokoan, both previously approved separately, into the one project.