Gippsland › Latest news › Tom McIntosh MP

Wooreen Battery construction in Hazelwood North begins, boosting Latrobe Valley jobs and renewable energy storage capacity

The Allan and Albanese Labor governments are investing in Latrobe Valley's renewable future with Energy Australia's 350MW Wooreen Battery. Creating 80 jobs, it will store energy for 230,000 homes and support Victoria's transition.

By news@gippsland - 28th February 2025 - Back to News

The Allan Labor and Albanese Labor governments are securing the Latrobe Valley's renewable energy future that will create new jobs and push down energy prices. Minister for Energy and Resources Lily D'Ambrosio announced the start of construction on EnergyAustralia's 350 megawatt (MW) four-hour Wooreen Battery, which will store enough energy to power 230,000 homes over a four-hour period before needing to be recharged.

Energy Australia 350MW Wooreen Battery at Hazelwood North will create 80 jobs and power 230,000 homes for four hours, supporting Victoria's renewable transition by 2027

Powering Victoria's future

The battery is located at the old Jeeralang Power Station site at Hazelwood North and generates 80 jobs during construction which will be complete and ready to charge up the grid with cheap renewable energy in 2027. Building more battery storage means we can create more renewable energy - for every gigawatt of battery storage built, three gigawatts of new renewable energy can come online, which will deliver more cheap electricity into the grid and reduce power prices.

The Wooreen Battery is part of the Allan Labor government's Structured Transition Agreement (STAs) with EnergyAustralia - which is helping workers and industry prepare for the closure of Yallourn in 2028. The STAs will focus on helping workers retrain, reskill, and find new opportunities, which includes a tailored worker and supply chain transition programs, and a worker transfer scheme. Our expansion of training and apprenticeship programs will also create a new pipeline of skilled workers.

Victoria is the home to big batteries with 12 currently operational, with another 13 under construction or undergoing commissioning, pushing us towards meeting the first renewable energy storage target of at least 2 gigawatts by 2030.

Powering Victoria's future

The Wooreen Battery has been made possible through financial backing from the Albanese Labor government's Capacity Investment Scheme which ensures developers will build enough cheap, clean, renewable energy and storage to replace ageing coal fired generators as they retire.

Victoria is on track to deliver 95 per cent renewable energy generation by 2035. As more large amounts of solar and wind come online, large-scale storage is key to storing renewable energy from these new projects to further drive down bills for Victorians.

Minister for Energy and Resources Lily D'Ambrosio said, "The Wooreen Battery will help the Latrobe Valley continue to be the state's energy generation powerhouse and allow for more renewable projects to be built in the area. We're making sure our new renewable energy projects continue to drive down bills for Victorian households and create jobs in the regional communities that host them."

Storing clean energy

Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen said, "It doesn't always rain but we can drink water every day because we store it. In the same way, batteries will store the huge amount of clean, cheap, renewable energy that Australia can generate from its world beating sun and wind resources."

"Switching to clean, reliable renewable energy isn't just good for the environment, it's good for power bills, and it's great for good, secure jobs. It's why Labor is supporting the delivery of more of the cheapest form of energy this decade, rather than waiting twenty years for a nuclear scheme that will cost taxpayers $600 billion, push up bills and flood our atmosphere will billions of tonnes more in emissions," Mr Bowen said.

Member for Eastern Victoria Tom McIntosh said, "This battery project will create new opportunities for workers in the Latrobe Valley, helping them to transition their skills to renewable energy."

Pictures from Australia News Zealand Infrastructure Pipeline website.

Source: http://gippsland.com/

Published by: news@gippsland.com