The Australian entity of global renewable energy investor Cubico Sustainable Investments (Cubico) has submitted two wind-plus-storage projects to the Federal government under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act.
The two projects are the Marmadua Energy Park and the Middle Creek Energy Hub, both of which are situated within the Western Downs region of Queensland. The sites include wind generation and a co-located 200MW battery energy storage system (BESS). The duration of the systems has not been confirmed at the time of writing.
Both projects will be situated within the Western Downs Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) and thus can leverage the surrounding electricity infrastructure. It is one of five proposed REZ in the south of Queensland with this expected to see between 2-2.6GW of generation installed.
The larger of the two projects is the Middle Creek project, which features 183 wind turbines capable of generating up to 1,317MW of green electricity. It will be located around 10km east of Wandoan, and the project area will span 28,418 hectares.
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The Hub will connect to the National Electricity Market (NEM) via an existing 275kV transmission line running from Columboola to Wandoan South, approximately 22km south of the project site.
Cubico also plans to develop a solar PV plant near the proposed wind and BESS units. The solar plant’s generation capacity has not yet been disclosed, as Cubico is investigating its size and location.
Little information on the BESS has been revealed at this stage bar the initial size and its location. Three proposed locations have been identified, each up to 1.4 hectares in size. The BESS will be coupled with the site’s substation.
Cubico hopes to begin construction on the site between 2027 and 2030 with operations anticipated from 2030 onwards.
Like the Middle Creek Energy Hub, the Marmadua Energy Park will have a 200MW BESS co-located with onshore wind turbines, with a generation capacity of 792MW. It will be located around 23km east of Tara and 41km south-west of Dalby and span 11,168 hectares.
The proposed substation for the site will also be co-located with the BESS, much like the Middle Creek Energy Hub. These will be situated in the east part of the project site adjacent to a 330kV transmission line.
Australia’s EPBC Act
The EPBC Act, administered by the Federal government, aims to protect nationally threatened species and ecological communities. The approval must be received before a project can be developed.
Numerous large-scale renewable energy and storage projects have been required to go through this process before being granted the green light by the Australian government. One of these includes Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners’ plans for a 750MW BESS co-located with a proposed polysilicon plant in Townsville, Queensland.
Squadron Energy, a renewable energy developer owned by one of Australia’s richest citizens, Andrew Forrest, entered the EPBC Act to secure consent for an 8-hour duration 1,200MWh BESS in New South Wales, to be co-located with a 300MW wind project.
In September 2024, Pacific Green Technologies submitted its 1GW/2.5GWh Portland BESS in Victoria to the EPBC Act. The project will feature multiple 250MW ‘battery parks’ alongside other necessary infrastructure.
