EDF Power Solutions Australia has referred the Balala Wind Farm, a wind-plus-storage project featuring an 800MWh battery energy storage system (BESS), for assessment under Australia’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act.
EDF Power Solutions Australia is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Electricité de France (EDF), the French state-owned utility.
The referral proposes up to 60 wind turbines across a 9,765-hectare project area, approximately 10km west of Uralla, within the New England Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) in New South Wales.
The project would connect to the National Electricity Market (NEM) via the existing TransGrid Line 86, a 330kV transmission line linking Armidale to Tamworth, or alternatively via EnergyCo’s proposed Central Hub as part of the wider New England REZ network build-out.
Try Premium for just $1
- Full premium access for the first month at only $1
- Converts to an annual rate after 30 days unless cancelled
- Cancel anytime during the trial period
Premium Benefits
- Expert industry analysis and interviews
- Digital access to PV Tech Power journal
- Exclusive event discounts
Or get the full Premium subscription right away
Or continue reading this article for free
Construction is expected to begin in 2030, pending approvals, and to take approximately 30 months, with testing and commissioning occurring in the final six to 12 months of that period.
The project would have an operational lifespan of 30 to 35 years, followed by a 24-month decommissioning phase.
EDF Power Solutions Australia has self-assessed the project as likely to have a significant impact on threatened species and ecological communities, as well as migratory species.
The company cites potential impacts on the White Box-Yellow Box-Blakely’s Red Gum Grassy Woodland community and habitat for species including the Regent Honeyeater, Swift Parrot and Koala, among the 63 threatened species considered in the referral’s likelihood-of-occurrence assessment.
Balala adds to a run of large hybrid and standalone storage referrals in Australia
The Balala referral extends a pattern of large-scale wind, solar and battery storage projects moving through EPBC assessment across Australia in recent months.
Lightsource bp referred the Narrogin East Renewable Energy Project in Western Australia in August, combining roughly 250MW of wind, 150MW of solar PV and a 200MW/800MWh centralised BESS, a project the company does not consider a controlled action, in contrast to EDF’s precautionary self-assessment for Balala.
AGL Energy separately submitted its 350MW/1,450MWh Kangaroo Valley BESS for EPBC assessment in September, also self-assessing the project as a likely controlled action due to impacts on critically endangered vegetation and threatened species habitat near Shoalhaven.
Standalone battery projects have featured prominently in the same pipeline. Octopus Australia referred the 500MW/2,000MWh Blackstone BESS in Queensland in September, built on a former coal mining site within the Swanbank industrial precinct, following the company’s earlier submission of the 1.2GW/4.8GWh Hanworth Battery Project in New South Wales.
Meanwhile, Origin Energy has also referred Eraring BESS North, a 500MW/4,942MWh expansion at its Eraring Power Station site, which would bring the combined Eraring site to approximately 1,200MW and 8,600MWh once complete.
Never miss an Australian energy storage story. Sign up for our Australia newsletter and get the latest project announcements, policy updates and market analysis delivered directly to you.
