1.2GW/2.4GWh ‘Melbourne Renewable Energy Hub’ BESS gets government approvals

LinkedIn
Twitter
Reddit
Facebook
Email

The Australian government has granted approvals to the ‘Melbourne Renewable Energy Hub’ (MREH), a 1,200MW/2.4GWh two-hour duration battery energy storage system (BESS) in the state of Victoria.

MREH is owned and developed by Singapore-headquartered renewables investor and developer Equis, in partnership with Australian renewables engineering, design and construction group Syncline Energy. Equis said that the project will be the largest BESS in the Asia-Pacific region.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Enjoy 12 months of exclusive analysis

  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Annual digital subscription to the PV Tech Power journal
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

The environmental approvals were announced this week by Minister for the Environment and Water, Tanya Plibersek. She said: “We know renewable energy is cheaper, cleaner, and crucial to helping us cut emissions and reach our goal of net zero by 2050. Projects like this will help us transform our energy system and build it for the future.”

The project will be connected to the National Electricity Market (NEM) and will act as a repository for solar, wind and hydro energy from across rural Victoria, as well as holding excess power generated from rooftop solar installations to flow into the transmission grid. The MREH will also include a 12.5MW co-located solar installation.

Following these approvals development is set to begin in late 2023, with commercial operations expected in 2025.

Equis originally announced plans for the project in November 2022, saying that the BESS would have multiple connection points to the NEM that allow it to perform multiple functions. It is also designed to support the development of Victoria’s renewable energy zones (REZ), areas that are designated for renewable energy developments throughout the state.

Plibersek said of the government’s backing for the project: “We’re undoing a decade of political fights that stalled progress and cost the environment. This is what action on climate change looks like – cutting emissions, investing in renewables, and better protecting our environment.”

BESS investments are one of the few areas of Australia’s clean energy economy that have seen favourable conditions of late. As reported by our sister publication PV Tech, the Clean Energy Council said that the downturn in renewable energy generation investments over the first half of 2023 as “concerning”, with just four new projects receiving financing over 6 months. Storage, however, has seen a blockbuster Q2; 1497MW/3802MWh of new projects closed financial commitments, well above the quarterly average for the preceding year.

11 November 2025
San Diego, USA
The 2024 Summit included innovative new features including a ‘Crash Course in Battery Asset Management’, Ask-Me-Anything formats and debate-style sessions. You can expect to meet and network with all the key industry players again in 2025 from major US asset owners, operators, RTOs and ISOs, optimizers, software and analytics providers, technical consultancies, O&M technology providers and more.

Read Next

July 9, 2025
Neoen Australia has increased the size of the BESS co-located at the 440MWp Culcairn solar PV power plant in New South Wales.
July 9, 2025
Australian renewables developer Edify Energy has submitted plans for a 2,400MWh solar-plus-storage project to Australia’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act.
July 8, 2025
Developer and independent power producer (IPP) Recurrent Energy, subsidiary of Canadian Solar, announced commercial operation of its 1,200MWh Papago Storage facility in Maricopa County, Arizona.
July 8, 2025
Developer Merus Power has delivered and commissioned a 38MW/43MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) in Lappeenranta, Finland.
Premium
July 8, 2025
ESN Premium speaks with Sahand Karimi, co-founder and CEO of Australian AI-driven energy management company OptiGrid, on the new FPP reform.

Most Popular

Email Newsletter