Central Queensland town at centre of 'battery boom' pushes for more input
Nestled among dry rainforest at the base of a mountain range in Central Queensland, a small country town is fighting what it sees as a battle threatening to transform its rural tranquillity: a national battery boom.
Five companies are planning to build or expand large-scale Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) in Bouldercombe, or nearby.
Mikaela Humble lives in the town of about 1,000 people and is among a group of residents fighting to be part of the planning processes for the facilities.
"Some of these developers have been working on these projects for years … they do all their studies and then they present it to the community [at the end] … it's about giving us a voice."
The companies are coming to Bouldercombe in large part thanks to a local substation, connected to the power grid.
The battery systems work by storing excess generated energy, so that it can be dispatched at other times when the grid needs it.
According to the Australian Energy Council's CEO Louisa Kinnear, there is currently a "battery boom", with demand set to increase as the country transitions away from ageing coal-fired power stations.
"They provide very rapid and flexible responses to maintain grid stability and that becomes really important in a high renewables grid," Ms Kinnear said.
She said combining current and committed projects, the country was looking at a guaranteed battery storage of about 8 to 10 gigawatts in the near future.
However, she estimated the country would need 56 gigawatts of battery storage by 2050, though about 30–35 of those gigawatts may come from anticipated home battery systems.
She agreed community needed to be involved, especially in locations where multiple projects were being considered.
According to Ms Humble, key concerns with the projects were about increased road use and noise, as well as fire risk, following a blaze at a local existing BESS in 2023.
She argued the projects could be built in designated industrial areas, separate to rural zoning regions, further from the substation.
For the businesses, the closer they are to a sub-station, the cheaper they are to build and operate.
Ms Humble said the community had petitioned the Rockhampton Regional Council to request a Temporary Local Planning Instrument (TLPI) from the state's Minister for Planning Jarrod Bleijie, so he could intervene on projects if needed.
Last year the council did not approve a development application put forward by ACEnergy for a BESS in Bouldercombe on the grounds it went against the rural zone code, as well as concerns about end-of-life plans and bushfire management.
More than 300 public submissions were received on the project, almost all against it.
The company is going through court to appeal the decision and said it was also participating in mediation with the council and community representatives.
In addition to the ACEnergy proposal, companies Potentia and Silo Energy have also lodged development applications through the council for Bouldercombe and Gracemere, respectively.
Both said they would work with the community to address any concerns.
Company Genex has a BESS connected to the local substation, but its original development approval included a stage-two expansion, with construction expected to start in 2027 at the earliest.
Genex said it too would engage with the community on the expansion and had put up sound-absorbing "sonic curtains" around the current batteries in a bid to reduce noise.
It had also installed lighting deflectors and tree screening.
Australian Renewable Energy Services (ARES) plans to lodge its development application for a Bouldercombe BESS next year.
Managing director Sigi Psutka-Jones said the company was consulting neighbours, and would hold public community consultation sessions this year.
In the meantime, despite most of the projects only at the proposal stage, Bouldercombe residents say they are already feeling an impact.
"[These projects] really do fracture community groups and friendships," Ms Humble said.
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