Australia: Energy Vault secures NSW approval for 1GWh BESS, TagEnergy submits 4GWh Victoria project

The process included public exhibition of the project’s Environmental Impact Statement, consultation with government agencies and local stakeholders, and refinements to the project design and consent conditions.

Energy Vault, a NYSE-listed energy infrastructure company (ticker: NRGV), is developing Stoney Creek as an 8-hour duration BESS.

Geotechnical works were completed on site in late August 2026, with site works and mobilisation expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2026 and commercial operations targeted for the first half of 2028, subject to remaining conditions.

The project is supported by a 14-year Long-Term Energy Service Agreement (LTESA) awarded through AEMO Services under the NSW Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap, which the company expects, together with anticipated merchant market revenues, to generate approximately US$25-30 million in annual project revenue once operational.

Raymond Gilfedder, general manager of Energy Vault Australia, said the approval reflected years of development work.

 “Securing state development approval for Stoney Creek is a significant achievement for the project and reflects several years of disciplined development, engineering and stakeholder engagement,” he said.

“We appreciate the constructive engagement of the NSW government, Narrabri Shire Council, the Narrabri Local Aboriginal Land Council, Transgrid, Enervest and the broader community throughout the assessment process.”

Stoney Creek’s path to this point has run through several milestones. Energy Vault first agreed to supply the BESS to co-developer Enervest Group in 2024, before moving in March 2025 to fully acquire the project.

In August 2025, Energy Vault completed that acquisition following Foreign Investment Review Board approval, a milestone that coincided with the company reporting second-quarter 2025 revenue of US$8.5 million, up 126% year-on-year.

Stoney Creek was one of three projects awarded an LTESA in the same NSW tender round, alongside Eku Energy’s 100MW/800MWh Griffith BESS and Acen Australia’s 800MW/11,990MWh Phoenix pumped hydro project, together representing 14GWh of long-duration storage capacity contracted by the state government.

At the start of the month, Energy Vault converted the project from a leased site to full land ownership, a step the company said would support roughly US$20 million in recurring annual EBITDA once construction completes.

TagEnergy’s Morwell BESS moves to federal environmental assessment

In Victoria, TagEnergy has referred its Morwell BESS to Australia’s environment department for assessment under the EPBC Act.

The referral was lodged through Morwell BESS Pty Ltd, as trustee for the Morwell BESS Trust, which is wholly owned by TagEnergy Australia.

The proposed facility comprises 876 battery containers and 292 inverter blocks alongside two substations, two operation and maintenance buildings, an internal access road network, security fencing and two bunds.

The project spans 60.375 hectares across three land parcels: the southern third of 436 Tramway Road, where the BESS infrastructure will sit, the northern third of the Hazelwood Terminal Station, where the facility’s electrical cables connect to the grid, and road reserves along Tramway Road and Bonds Lane.

The site is located in the Latrobe Shire, roughly 3.5km south of Morwell and 2.5km east of the decommissioned Hazelwood and Morwell coal-fired power stations. It will be constructed in two stages.

TagEnergy’s referral states the project is unlikely to have a significant impact on any Matters of National Environmental Significance, including threatened species, ecological communities, migratory species, Ramsar wetlands or World and National Heritage areas.

The company’s biodiversity assessment identified 0.170 hectares of Plains Grassy Forest vegetation for removal, down from an earlier design that would have affected a larger area.

 Indigenous heritage engagement has taken place with the Gunaikurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation since 2020, building on a Cultural Heritage Management Plan originally prepared for a solar PV plant proposed at the same site and amended in February 2026 to reflect the switch to battery storage.

TagEnergy is a clean energy developer with a portfolio approaching 12GW across Australia, the UK, Spain, Portugal and France.

The company acquired the Morwell project from Australian developer Ace Power in 2025 and has referred several other Australian battery storage and wind projects under the EPBC Act, including its Raglan BESS and the Golden Plains Wind Farm, both of which have been approved through the same process.

The federal referral follows state-level approval secured earlier in 2026. Victoria’s Development Facilitation Program (DFP) approved the Morwell BESS in June 2026 as part of a round covering four projects worth a combined AU$2.4 billion (US$1.71 billion) and 1,390MW of battery storage capacity.

That approval described the project as a 1,000MW/4,000MWh, 4-hour duration system connecting to the 500kV Hazelwood Terminal Station, consistent with the site details in the EPBC referral.

The DFP round also included Pacific Green and Green Switch Energy’s AU$600 million Nine Mile BESS near Geelong, Synergy Wind’s AU$388 million Gelliondale Wind Farm, and Pacific Partnerships’ AU$130 million Chivers Road BESS in Glenrowan.

The DFP has fast-tracked more than AU$11 billion in energy projects since being expanded to cover renewable energy development, though the programme’s future is uncertain ahead of Victoria’s state election on 28 November, with the opposition having said it would remove it if elected.

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