Yanara and Gamuda Sign A$790 Million EPC Deal for Mortlake Energy Hub Battery

Yanara, the developer formerly known as BrightNight Asia Pacific, has signed an A$790 million engineering, procurement and construction contract with Gamuda Engineering to build the first stage of the Mortlake Energy Hub, a combined solar-and-battery project in western Victoria, Australia. The contract, executed on September 28 and confirmed in a filing to Bursa Malaysia, covers a 300 MW connection pairing 435 MWp of solar generation with a 1,449 MWh battery energy storage system, one of the larger single-stage battery builds contracted in Australia this year.

A brownfield connection built around an existing substation

The project sits alongside Mortlake Terminal Station and will tie into Victoria’s 500 kV transmission network without requiring new long-distance transmission lines, according to Gamuda’s project documentation — a factor that has shortened the path to approval for a number of recent Victorian battery projects sited near existing gas or coal infrastructure. Gamuda’s scope covers design, procurement, construction, installation, testing and commissioning of the facility; the companies said a separate operation-and-maintenance contract worth roughly A$45 million is expected to follow within about a month. Gamuda said it received limited notice to proceed on September 29, with financial close targeted for the fourth quarter of 2026 and construction running through to completion in January 2029.

One stage of a larger hub

Mortlake Energy Hub was originally outlined as a two-stage project combining roughly 450 MW of solar with 600 MW / 2,400 MWh of battery storage; the solar component was subsequently upsized from an earlier 350 MW design. Monday’s contract covers only the first stage, MEH-1, with the balance of the hub’s planned capacity to follow in a later phase that has not yet been contracted. Origin Energy, which operates a separate, earlier 650 MWh grid-forming battery at the same Mortlake site, brought that facility into commercial operation in August, giving the location two independently developed battery assets by different owners once MEH-1 is complete.

Part of a fast-growing state pipeline

The contract adds to a Victorian storage pipeline that state officials have said needs to reach 2.6 GW of capacity by 2030 and 6.3 GW by 2035 to support a target of 60% renewable generation by the end of the decade. Victoria is already home to the 300 MW / 450 MWh Victorian Big Battery near Geelong, which holds a grid-services contract with the Australian Energy Market Operator, and the state’s pipeline now sits alongside comparable projects elsewhere in the country — including New South Wales’ 200 MWh Deniliquin East battery, approved by regulators despite more than 70 objections, and the record 9.1 GW of renewables and storage AEMO connected across the National Electricity Market in the last financial year. At 1,449 MWh, MEH-1’s battery alone would rank among the largest single-stage systems contracted in the state, though it remains smaller than the 850 MW / 1,680 MWh Waratah Super Battery operating in neighbouring New South Wales.

For Gamuda, the contract extends a run of Australian renewables-and-storage EPC work that the Malaysia-listed group has built up over the past two years, adding a project of this scale to a construction order book the company has been growing outside its home market.

Sources

• The Star, “Gamuda bags RM2.28bil contract for Australia renewable energy project,” September 28, 2026 — contract value in AUD and RM, capacity figures, Bursa Malaysia filing details, O&M contract and timeline. thestar.com.my
• Energy-Storage.News, “First stage BESS at Mortlake Energy Hub grows to 1,449 MWh as EPC deal signed,” September 28, 2026 — MEH-1 capacity detail, project history and solar upsizing, grid-connection description. ess-news.com
• Gamuda Berhad, “Mortlake Energy Hub Stage 1,” project page — official description of scope, location and grid connection. gamuda.com.au

Illustrative image. Photo: Kecko from Eastern Switzerland, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons — source