en.Wedoany.com Reported - ZEBRE has submitted the 180MW/360MWh Noblevale battery energy storage project in Queensland, Australia, for federal environmental assessment, to be reviewed under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC Act). ZEBRE is a joint venture established by Taiwan-based renewable energy developer HD Renewable Energy (HDRE) and Australian developer ZEN Energy.
The Noblevale project is a standalone grid-scale battery energy storage system (BESS) proposed for a rehabilitated mine site near Swanbank, within the Ipswich City Council area, approximately 45km southwest of Brisbane. The project has a rated output of 180MW and an energy storage capacity of 360MWh, capable of operating at full power for 2 hours. ZEBRE stated that, while maintaining the same footprint, the project capacity may be increased depending on improvements in battery technology at the time of construction, to accommodate the continuous advancements in lithium-ion battery energy density and system-level efficiency across successive generations of utility-scale BESS products.
The facility will connect to the National Electricity Market (NEM) via a new underground transmission cable extending to the nearby Blackstone substation. Underground routing was chosen to avoid impacts on native vegetation, habitats, and wildlife migration corridors. The cable route will traverse an existing easement area for overhead high-voltage transmission lines, which is already clear of native vegetation.
The BESS will be arranged across three battery compounds, with a total disturbance footprint of 6.33 hectares. The site will include a substation, internal roads, site office, control building, maintenance shed, underground wastewater and stormwater storage tanks, stormwater retention ponds, and koala-proof fencing. Construction works include earthworks and grading, civil works for equipment foundations and cable trenches, equipment delivery and installation, as well as cable laying, connection, commissioning, and energization. The site is currently used for cattle grazing in degraded eucalypt woodland and exotic pasture.
The Swanbank industrial area where the project is located was formerly a coal and mining hub in southeast Queensland. The area is close to existing transmission infrastructure, which minimizes the cable length required for grid connection compared to new transmission lines, reducing costs and environmental impacts. The Swanbank area already hosts the 250MW/500MWh Swanbank BESS operated by CleanCo Queensland, which was officially commissioned in February 2026 at the former Swanbank B coal-fired power station site. The Noblevale project is situated on a separate parcel within the industrial area, and according to the submission documents, its site lies within the area envisioned as the Swanbank Clean Energy Hub, part of the Queensland Government's clean energy initiative.
The Ipswich City Council approved the project's development application on December 11, 2025, under the Planning Act 2016. Construction is scheduled to commence on September 1, 2027, with a target completion date of June 1, 2029.
The Noblevale submission comes at a time when ZEBRE's Australian partner, ZEN Energy, is facing financial difficulties. ZEN Energy appointed administrators in early 2026, with wholesale electricity market volatility cited as a primary cause. Project documents show that ZEBRE's joint venture structure comprises HDRE Trust II holding a 70% equity interest and ZEN Energy subsidiary Zen Future holding 30%. The Noblevale project is held by a separate trustee entity, namely Noblevale I Project I Pty Ltd as trustee of the Noblevale I Project Trust, a structure that insulates the project from ZEN Energy's overall financial position.
ZEBRE acquired the 111MW/333MWh Templers BESS in South Australia from ZEN Energy in May 2025 for approximately A$80 million (US$51 million), retaining it within the joint venture. Project documents indicate that ZEBRE has advanced the Templers project through construction and into operation, fully complying with permit and approval conditions throughout, a process that has provided the joint venture with a track record of EPBC Act compliance. The Solar River solar-plus-storage project in South Australia, also managed by the same team, received a controlled action decision under the EPBC Act in November 2025.
As reported by Energy-Storage.news in May 2025, ZEN Energy had previously submitted the Hookey Creek hybrid project in Queensland to the EPBC Act assessment on behalf of ZEBRE. That project is a 200MW solar-plus-storage development featuring a BESS with 4 to 8 hours of duration.
