A “strategically vital” and very large battery proposed for construction in Queensland’s Gladstone region has been waved through the federal environmental approvals process, just over two months after being referred there for assessment.
The Rutherglen Battery is a joint development of Gryphon Energy, Red Hill Renewable Energy and Ampyr Energy Australia that proposes to build a 750 MW, 1600 megawatt-hour battery energy storage system (BESS) on cattle grazing land 6km east of Bororen and 10km north of Miriam Vale.
A decision published on the EPBC website said the proposed project was “not a controlled action” and had the green light to go ahead, as far as the federal environment minister is concerned.
At the local and state government level, a decision on the project is still pending, with the project developers noting last year that it would be resubmitting a new development application in line with the new planning requirements for BESS projects in the state.
The Rutherglen Battery website describes the project as a “critical piece of energy infrastructure,” that will deliver grid-firming capacity to the Gladstone Region – an industrial centre that hosts the Boyne Island aluminium smelter that is switching from coal power to become among the first in the world to be powered by firmed wind and solar.
