Residents and council in court fight to stop 500MW Bouldercombe BESS

As residents of a tiny community line join a Qld council in a legal battle against a big battery project, another major battery development is about to land on their doorstep.

Several locals are taking their battle against the Bouldercombe battery project to the court room. Bouldercombe residents pictured here in 2024 at their ‘No Bess For Bouldy’ protest.

As residents of a small town join Rockhampton Regional Council in a legal battle against a 500MW big battery project, another major battery development is about to land on their doorstep.

Mikaela Cooling is one of the Bouldercombe residents who chose to correspond to an appeal by ACEnergy against a decision by Rockhampton council in December to refuse its application for the 500MW Bouldercombe BESS (battery energy storage system) located 5km northeast of the town or 18km south of Rockhampton.

The layout for the proposed 500 mw BESS project near Bouldercombe.

Ms Cooling and six other people have exercised their right to respond to ACEnergy’s appeal action after more than 300 people from the area had lodged submissions objecting to the project last year.

“We have to give it a crack,” she said about their decision to join council with the legal action.

“I just want to make sure we have the opportunity to have a say,” she said, acknowledging it would be challenging.

“But if you don’t correspond, you’re not in.... and if you’re not in, you’re not in.

“I suspect it will go through a mediation process first”.

As that matter brews in the Planning and Environment Court in Brisbane, Ms Cooling said they had another potential fight looming. “This week there’s going to be another development application submitted at council,” she said.

“They (Potentia Energy) rang me on Friday to let me know they were lodging it (the 300MW Capricorn BESS project).”

Potentia Energy on its website states, subject to obtaining the necessary approvals, construction of the proposed $500m Capricorn BESS project was targeted to commence in the second half of 2026, with operations due to begin in mid-2028.

The Capricorn BESS project is a 300MW battery planned for near Bouldercombe.

“The Capricorn BESS would comprise of shipping containers fitted with battery units and control equipment associated with inverters and power transformers,” Potentia explains.

“The layout would be arranged in a grid pattern with space to allow access around each unit. A substation would be constructed within the project area to enable connection via underground cabling to the closely located Bouldercombe Substation, owned by Powerlink.”

As Bouldercombe residents wait for that project to make its way through the detailed council application process, they also wait for the next stage in the appeal by ACEnergy.

The town’s chief objection relates to the threat of fire, from within the facility and from the threat of approaching bushfires.

The location of the 500-megawatt battery on the Burnett Highway at at Bouldercombe.

The proposed farm is 10 times larger than the nearby 50MW Genex Power BESS where a Tesla battery caught fire and burnt for days in September 2023.

Ms Cooling said Bouldercombe residents had received, through right to information requests, fire reports, fire investigation and incident reports from that emergency.

“We have a detailed account of how long it took for first responders to get there, get in, get water, etc,” she said.

“We have read a lot about it.”

Fire crews were called to the Bouldercombe area after a Tesla battery caught fire in 2023.

She said ACEnergy staff had met with her on several occasions to explain their fire safety systems but they had not satisfied her concerns.

She believes if power was cut to the BESS due to fire, the high-tech safety systems might be compromised.

Ms Cooling said other key issues were related to increased noise and loss of amenity.

At its December meeting a council report listed extensive details of the BESS project’s fire prevention ability.

It said the BESS development proposed to use lithium-iron phosphate batteries was “considered to be the safest in the industry” and the project had numerous hi-tech safety features to prevent fire.

Each BESS container would be equipped with a battery management system (BMS), a combustible gas detector, smoke detector and temperature detector.

“If an abnormality is detected, the internal fire extinguishing process will be triggered, and the aerosol fire suppression system will effectively extinguish a fire within the container,” the report said.

“The BMS will monitor the state of the battery in real time via feedback loops. This allows for constant monitoring, diagnosis, and protection of the battery’s cell thermal temperature, voltage, current, and residual life cycle forecast.

“This enables early detection of micro-abnormalities within the battery, allowing for early remediation to rectify any issues before a fire event would be triggered. The structure of the unit also creates an environment adverse to fire, explosion, or thermal runaway conditions by essentially suffocating any potential fire from escalating.

“The structure also contains an ‘explosion-proof fan’ which contains any gas release and disperses it at sequential stages, lowering any combustible gases to below the lower flammable limit and will not result in air emissions at levels that will impact on human health.

“In addition, the facility will operate 24/7 and will host up to five permanent on-site staff members during business hours who can act promptly if any abnormalities are detected. The site will be monitored 24/7 in case of an emergency outside of business hours, in which staff members will react and return to site if required along with first responders if necessary.

“The BESS containers are appropriately separated within the site to avoid the risk of a fire spreading between units and appropriately separated from vegetation outside the lease area to avoid an external fire hazard along with the provision of a 576-kilolitre water tank for firefighting purposes on surrounding land.

“Furthermore, an Emergency Management Plan prepared by a suitably qualified person and in consultation with local fire authorities will be prepared prior to the commencement of the development. The plan will be specific to the property and include strategies for hazard management of a battery storage facility.

“Therefore, the development is considered to be designed and managed so that it provides appropriate protection for community safety and minimises the risks to life and property.”

Other key features for the Bouldercombe BESS project:

It is a 500-megawatt capacity standalone battery storage facility that will connect to the Bouldercombe Substation;

It includes battery energy storage system units, medium voltage power stations, a connection asset (including control rooms and switch rooms), grid connection equipment, car parking, landscaping, acoustic fencing and security fencing, a new underground cable route and easement proposed to run along the western boundary of the Development Site with a connection under the Burnett Highway to the Bouldercombe Substation;.

It is designed to store energy from the grid during times of low demand and distribute energy back into the grid during times of peak demand.

It will assist to stabilise the grid and minimise the risk of power outages and improve the overall reliability of the transmission network.

It includes leasing back the development site for a period of 22 years.