Octopus Australia has referred the Blackstone battery energy storage system (BESS), a 500MW/2,000MWh standalone facility, to Australia’s federal government for assessment under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act.
The proposed designated proponent is Blackstone BESS OpCo Pty Ltd, a trust entity 100% owned by Octopus Australia, an energy fund manager and developer with a portfolio and pipeline exceeding AU$16 billion (US$11.52 billion) across wind, solar and battery storage projects in Australia.
The referral follows Octopus Australia’s submission in August of the 1.2GW/4.8GWh Hanworth Battery Project in New South Wales, a project the company describes as Australia’s “largest planned BESS,” acquired from developer Enervest earlier in 2026.
The Blackstone project would be built on a 7.25-hectare site in Swanbank, within the Ipswich local government area of Queensland, adjacent to the existing Blackstone 275kV substation.
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
The site sits on land that has been historically disturbed by open-cut and underground coal mining, within the Swanbank-New Chum industrial precinct, an area increasingly repurposed for energy infrastructure as its mining legacy winds down.
Construction is expected to begin in November 2026 and run until early 2029, with the facility then expected to operate for approximately 25 years, connecting directly to Queensland’s 275kV transmission network via underground cables linking to the Blackstone substation.
Following the referral, the project still needs to finalise operational works approvals with Ipswich City Council, complete financing to reach financial close, and execute engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) and long-term service agreement (LTSA) contracts with Tesla, as well as connection and access agreements with the transmission operator, Powerlink Queensland.
The referral’s ecological assessment found that the project would result in the loss of approximately 3.26 hectares of remnant vegetation that provides habitat for the endangered koala, including primary, secondary, and supplementary food tree species.
Field surveys did not directly observe koalas on site, and the assessment concludes that habitat use is likely intermittent, functioning mainly as foraging and movement habitat within an already fragmented, heavily industrialised landscape.
No threatened ecological communities were identified within the project area, and no offsets are currently proposed.
Octopus Australia states that the referral has been lodged on a precautionary basis, given the species’ conservation status and the ongoing decline of koala habitat across south-east Queensland.
Part of a wider concentration of battery storage development in the Swanbank precinct
Blackstone adds to a concentration of battery storage development within the same Swanbank industrial precinct. ZEBRE, a joint venture between HD Renewable Energy and ZEN Energy, has separately referred its 180MW/360MWh Noblevale Battery for EPBC assessment, also connecting to the Blackstone substation from a different site within the same precinct, which Queensland has flagged as a prospective Clean Energy Hub.
CleanCo Queensland’s 250MW/500MWh Swanbank BESS, built on the site of the former Swanbank B coal station, opened in the same area in February 2026, underlining the pattern of former coal and mining infrastructure being converted to battery storage use across the region.
The Blackstone referral adds to a run of sizeable storage and hybrid projects moving through Australia’s EPBC Act process in recent months.
In August, Windlab and Squadron Energy referred a 500MW BESS component of the Bungaban solar-plus-storage project in Queensland, while EDF Power Solutions Australia has sought approval for the Wala Wala Pumped Hydro Energy Storage project in New South Wales, a 300-400MW facility offering up to 4,000MWh of long-duration storage.
The volume of submissions entering the federal assessment process has drawn scrutiny from industry bodies regarding implementation speed.
The Clean Energy Investor Group published a report in July calling on the federal government to prioritise faster, more consistent decisions under the reformed Act, representing developers and investors with more than 16GW of installed capacity and a project pipeline exceeding 46GW nationally.
The group’s report found that National Environmental Standards, an offsets calculator and a formal definition of “net gain” remained under development as of mid-2026, despite the Environment Protection Reform Act 2025 having already delegated most assessment powers to a new National Environmental Protection Agency, with full commencement of the reforms required by December 2026.
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.
