Developer Alternate Path has secured federal environmental approval for its 500MW/2,000MWh Murchs Corner battery energy storage system (BESS) in Victoria, Australia.
The project, which joined the EPBC Act queue in late March 2026 and has now received Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act clearance, will connect to the existing 500kV Moorabool to Mortlake transmission line via a cut-in terminal station.
The approval adds to Victoria’s expanding pipeline of utility-scale storage projects targeting the state’s legislated energy storage targets of at least 2.6GW by 2030 and 6.3GW by 2035.
Spanning a 169-hectare site across two freehold parcels near Darlington-Terang Road, the project is expected to disturb only approximately 21 hectares during construction, with the broader 65-hectare disturbance footprint designed to allow siting flexibility during detailed design phases.
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As previously reported by Energy-Storage.news, the BESS itself would occupy around 13 hectares, while the cut-in terminal station would require four hectares north of the existing transmission easement.
The proponent designed the project to avoid direct impacts to matters of national environmental significance, situating infrastructure on existing cleared agricultural land dominated by introduced species.
Two flora species and three fauna species listed under the EPBC Act are considered likely to occur in the project area, along with one potentially present threatened ecological community, though the referral states no significant impact is expected due to the highly disturbed nature of the site and avoidance of nearby creeks except where existing infrastructure already crosses watercourses.
The project is expected to operate for approximately 20 to 25 years, with decommissioning plans focused on removing above-ground components for repurposing where possible and returning the land to its original agricultural condition.
During operations, only six maintenance jobs are anticipated to run intermittently.
The Murchs Corner project joins a cluster of battery storage developments targeting the Moorabool to Mortlake transmission corridor.
Origin Energy’s 300MW/650MWh Mortlake BESS, located at the Mortlake Power Station adjacent to the Moorabool to Heywood 500kV transmission line, commenced construction in 2024 and is expected to finish commissioning late in 2026.
The Moorabool-Mortlake corridor’s proximity to Victoria’s South-West Renewable Energy Zone (REZ), which covers two areas between Macarthur and Darlington, and between Casterton and Balmoral, has positioned the transmission infrastructure as a focal point for storage development.
The Murchs Corner approval follows a series of recent EPBC Act clearances for battery storage projects across Australia.
Earlier this month, two battery storage projects totalling 2.15GWh cleared Australia’s EPBC Act assessment, while the 1.6GWh grid-forming Rutherglen battery received EPBC Act approval in March.
Alternate Path, a Tasmania-based developer, is pursuing the project in partnership with local landowners Bobby and Clive Jamieson.
Interested in Australia? Read Energy-Storage.news’ Energy Storage Summit Australia coverage and related content.
