14 November 2025
People in the Albury community will be able to meet with the NSW Independent Planning Commission and have their say about the proposed Hume North Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), a State significant development application (SSD-61842974) proposed by Infrastructure Capital Services Pty Ltd to install a 74MW/150MWh BESS with associated infrastructure and connection works.
The proposed BESS would be located approximately 10 kilometres east of Albury off Trout Farm Road, within the Albury City LGA. The BESS is designed to increase grid stability, energy security and reliability. If approved, it would store excess renewable energy and provide ‘firming capacity’ by contributing to dispatchable energy availability during peak demand or when renewable energy production is low. The key issues associated with the proposed development were identified in the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure’s whole-of-government assessment of the development application. These include energy transition, land use compatibility, water, biodiversity, transport, hazards, noise, visual, waste, erosion and sediment control, decommissioning and rehabilitation.
The Commission is the consent authority because the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure received an objection from Albury City Council and because more than 50 public submissions objecting to the proposal, of which the majority were from outside the local area. Accordingly, the Commission wants to ensure that people who live nearby and may be most directly impacted by the project can have their say to help inform the Commission’s decision.
The Commission invites members of the local community to register their interest for an in-person meeting with the Panel when it visits the area to conduct a site inspection and locality tour. Local meetings with individuals will run for 10 minutes each and will be held at the Albury Business & Event Centre at 526 Swift Street, Albury, NSW, 2640 on Tuesday 2 December 2025, commencing at 10:00am AEDT. The meetings will not be videoed or livestreamed but will be recorded and transcribed, with the transcript published on the Commission’s website. The meetings can also be observed in-person.
To participate, local community members must register their interest for a meeting timeslot via the Commission’s website by 5:00pm AEDT on Thursday 27 November 2025.
The Commission is also inviting all members of the public to make written submissions, which can be lodged via the ‘Make a Submission’ portal on the Commission’s website. The Commission will also accept written submissions that are lodged via post or email.
Written submissions will be accepted until 5:00pm AEDT on Tuesday 9 December 2025.