Flow Power has broken ground on its 100MW/223MWh Bennetts Creek battery energy storage system (BESS) in Victoria, marking construction start on the renewable energy generator and retailer's first large-scale standalone battery project. The site is located near Hazelwood North in Victoria's Latrobe Valley, a region historically associated with coal mining and coal-fired power generation. The project is expected to be completed in 2028.
Flow Power reached financial close on the project in December 2025, with financing provided by banks Westpac and SMBC Australia. The company did not disclose the terms of that financing, but said its majority shareholder, Canadian pension trust OPSEU Pension Plan Trust Fund (OPTrust), supported the transaction. System integrator Wärtsilä Energy Storage will supply battery storage equipment and control systems, while Zenviron, a joint venture between Monadelphous and ZEM Energy, has been engaged as balance-of-plant contractor. Zenviron previously delivered balance-of-plant works on the 100MW/200MWh Latrobe Valley BESS for Tilt Renewables.
Bennetts Creek adds a third financing pathway to battery storage projects concentrated around the Latrobe Valley as the region's coal-fired generation continues to retire. Unlike the State Electricity Commission's minority-stake investments in projects such as the 400MW/1.86GWh Baranduda Electrical Energy Reserve, or corporate offtake arrangements like Anza Power's tolling agreement with Amazon Australia for the Bairnsdale BESS, Flow Power is financing and developing the project independently through bank debt and shareholder support. Flow Power's retail offering includes a residential feed-in tariff of AU$0.45/kWh (US$0.32/kWh) between 17:30 and 19:30, when solar generation tails off and evening demand peaks.
What remains unknown is the project's total capital cost, the terms of the Westpac and SMBC financing, and whether Flow Power will contract the battery's output through its own retail book or seek external offtake arrangements. The source also does not specify the expected commercial operations date within 2028 or the project's anticipated revenue mix across arbitrage, frequency control, and capacity markets.