The Chivers Road BESS, proposed by infrastructure developer Pacific Partnerships, was among four projects approved last week by Victorian Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny through the Development Facilitation Program.
The battery will be built in the north-west corner of the existing Glenrowan Solar Farm, at the corner of Glenrowan-Winton and Chivers Rds, and will connect to the site's existing 33kV grid infrastructure.
The solar farm has been operating since May 2024.
The system will have the capacity to power 34,500 homes, storing surplus solar generation during off-peak periods for release during evening demand peaks.
Pacific Partnerships lodged its development application in October 2025.
Construction is scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter of this year, with the project expected to be operational from mid-2028 through to 2053.
The project’s social and economic impact assessment estimates 50 construction jobs, of which 20 are expected to be filled locally.
Two ongoing operational positions are forecast once the site is running.
About 10 per cent of the $130 million capital investment is projected to flow to the local economy.
Wangaratta Rural City Council is set to receive $7.8 million over 25 years through the government’s Payment in Lieu of Rates scheme, with a further $250,000 allocated to a community benefit sharing program over 10 years.
The Glenrowan approval was one of four projects totalling $2.4 billion announced by Ms Kilkenny on March 29.
The round of investment also included the $1.3 billion Morwell BESS in the Latrobe Valley, the $600 million Nine Mile BESS near Geelong, and the $388 million Gelliondale Wind Farm in Gippsland.
The government said more than 30 projects worth $11 billion had now been approved through the Development Facilitation Program over the past two years.
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