Balance-of-plant (BOP) contractor Zenviron has secured a contract with EnergyAustralia to provide balance-of-plant design, construction, installation, and commissioning of a 350MW battery energy storage system (BESS) in Victoria, Australia.
The 350MW/1,400MWh Wooreen BESS is set to be built within the Latrobe Valley in part to replace EnergyAustralia’s 1,450MW Yallourn coal-fired power station, which is scheduled for retirement in mid-2028.
Yallourn burns around 18 million tonnes of coal annually, contributing about 22% of Victoria’s electricity demand. The utility is targeting net zero emissions status by 2050.
When EnergyAustralia submitted documents to the state’s Department of Environment, Land, Water, and Planning for the BESS in 2022, the project was deemed to be Australia’s first proposed 4-hour duration system.
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Zenviron, a joint venture between engineering group Monadelphous and renewable energy developer ZEM Energy, said it expects to complete these works in the second half of 2026.
EnergyAustralia announced the battery project in 2021. As reported by Energy-Storage.news at the time of that announcement, the company expects to have it in service before the end of 2026 to help maintain reliable electricity supplies and the stable operation of the grid.
This becomes the second project Zenviron will provide BOP services for in Victoria. The other is the 100MW/200MWh Northern BESS facility being developed as part of the Latrobe Valley BESS project in Morwell.
Tilt Renewables is developing the project, and Zenviron has been subcontracted to carry out the design and construction subcontract and the BOP civil and electrical works for Fluence Energy.
Victoria utilises new fast-track system for 1.8GWh BESS
Elsewhere in Victoria, the state government recently fast-tracked the approval process for a 400MW/1,800MWh BESS being pursued by developer Birdwood Energy in Wodonga, in the state’s northeast, close to the border with New South Wales.
The government confirmed that the project had been selected alongside the 40MW Brewster Wind Farm to be fast-tracked through the Development Facilitation Program. The initiative aims to speed up the development of critical infrastructure projects in Victoria. This means that a decision on the planning application is expected to take around four months.
Several renewable energy projects have been permitted to enter the programme following its acceptance of renewable energy projects last year. One of these includes the 360MW Mortlake solar-plus-storage project being developed by US independent power producer (IPP) BrightNight.
Birdwood Energy’s project will be located in the existing industrial estate on Baranduda Drive within the proposed Baranduda Energy Reserve development.
It aims to store and release energy to complement household rooftop solar, help stabilise the electricity grid, and reduce power prices, benefiting local residents, businesses, and industry in northeast Victoria and southern New South Wales.
