RES Australia has applied for environmental approval to develop a 400-MW/2,400-MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) in Victoria’s Gippsland region, according to official documents. The proposal has been submitted to Australia’s Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) for assessment under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act.
The proposal has been referred to Australia’s Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) and will be reviewed under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act. In its application, RES Australia points out that the project is “unlikely to be of significance to any threatened fauna species and no world heritage properties are located within or in proximity to the selected area.
The Bunyip North BESS will be located approximately 80 kilometres southeast of central Melbourne, in the Cardinia Shire, and will cover roughly 30.8 hectares of predominantly modified agricultural land currently used for livestock grazing and hay production. The six-hour system is planned to connect to the existing 220-kV transmission network via a new terminal station.
Construction of the BESS is expected to begin in mid-2027 and will take about two years to complete, with commissioning targeted for 2029. Once operational, the battery system is expected to supply enough electricity to meet the peak demand of more than 250,000 households when fully discharged.





