Equis Development, a Singapore-based renewable energy developer, has rebranded and relaunched its $1.28 billion battery energy storage system (BESS) on the outskirts of Melbourne, Australia. In order to co-develop the BESS project, the company has acquired a 100 per cent stake in the Melton Renewable Energy Hub (MREH) from Syncline Energy. The BESS was initially intended as a 600 MW/2400 MWh project when it was first announced in August 2021. It has since been rebranded as MREH.
The project has also been resized to have 1.2 GW of battery capacity, but its storage capacity will remain at 2,400 MWh. It is situated 25 km northwest of Melbourne’s commercial and business district. MREH will be the only BESS in the country with a capacity of more than 200 MW once it is finished, making it one of the largest BESS facilities in Australia and Asia. The project has received all necessary planning, environmental, and community impact assessment approvals.
It will be constructed in two phases, each with a 600 MW capacity. The first stage of development is expected to start early 2023 and be finished by 2024. The 500 kV high-voltage transmission system of the National Electricity Market (NEM) will be connected to MREH. According to Equis, the project will be able to support 1.2 GW of wind energy or 1.6 GW of solar generation.
