An EPBC Act referral has been lodged by Gingerah Energy for Meridien, a hub in Western Australia, Australia, which is to power a data centre of up to 1 GW. The hub has been planned with 5 GWh of BESS, 5.2 GW of solar and 1.5 GW of wind, and public comment will close on 4 November 2026.
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Gingerah Energy, an Australia-based project company, has referred the Meridien Renewable Energy Hub and Data Centre to the Australian Government under the EPBC Act. The project is to be built on two pastoral leases in Western Australia, Australia, and it would pair 5 GWh of BESS with a data centre of up to 1 GW of IT load. The referral has been open for public comment since 21 October 2026, and comments will be accepted until 4 November 2026.
The data centre is to draw all of its power from plants on the same site. For that purpose, the hub has been planned with approximately 5.2 GW of solar PV and 1.5 GW of wind, and the 250 wind turbines would stand within the solar area rather than on separate land. The 5 GWh of BESS is to be supported by firming capacity, while an internal microgrid of overhead lines, on-site substations and underground cables would carry the power across the site.
The data centre, in turn, is to be cooled by a closed-loop system. Its support plant would include cold water energy storage, dispatchable firming facilities and fuel storage, and accommodation for the workforce, offices and car parking have also been included in the plan.
A project of this size requires a large area of land. The project area covers approximately 27,520 ha, of which up to 18,203 ha, or about 66%, has been set as the maximum disturbance footprint, so that the detailed design can remain flexible. The actual area to be cleared is expected to be smaller. The choice of the site, the technologies and the layout has been informed by technical feasibility studies, which Haskoning Australia carried out between 2024 and 2026.
The construction is to be staged in step with the load of the data centre. Stages have been set at 48 MW, 120 MW, 240 MW, 620 MW and 1 GW of IT load, and the first stages, of up to 240 MW, are expected to be built and commissioned progressively over two to three years. Both Stage 1 and Stage 2 have been included in this referral, so no separate referral will be lodged for Stage 2.
The referral comes at a time when large BESS projects in Australia have been gathering approvals and contracts at a steady pace. In October 2026 alone, the 1 GWh Warracknabeal BESS was approved, GenusPlus won a contract for 1.86 GWh of BESS at Birdwood, and Valo was chosen to deliver the 400 MW/1.6 GWh Teebar BESS.