Stop the Doreen BESS
The issue
Please join our community in fighting the construction of one of the world’s largest battery energy storage facilities in Doreen, close to homes, schools, parks and the places we value most about living in our community.
The proposed "Middle Hut BESS" Battery energy storage plant is sited just east of Yan Yean road in the Nillumbik Green Wedge north of Melbourne. It includes 14 hectares of containerised BESS units, electrical infrastructure, switching, O & M building and control room, security fencing, retention ponds for holding contaminated water, lighting infrastructure and more.
The site where this industrial battery facility is planned is totally unsuited to industrial battery storage development. It is located on the side of a hill in the highly protected GWZ green wedge area of Doreen, Nillumbik (The Green Wedge Shire).
The site has an environmental significance overlay 'ESO1', classing it of the highest environmental significance . Located on Wurundjeri country, it has an Aboriginal cultural heritage overlay, and is overlooked by the heritage listed Arthurs Creek Cemetery. The site featured as site 90 in the 1997 NEROC report, and site 52 https://doi.org/10.26188/33399784 of the more recent 2013 Abzeco report into Nillumbik sites of environmental significance, both of which designated it a biolink corridor of special importance to allow wildlife movement through the landscape. The site sits on the top of the hill high above Stewart Ponds Creek and Chapel Lane gully which feed into the Diamond Creek where native fish and platypus live and breed and Melbourne's very own Yarra river.
The site is just outside the footprint of Black Saturday, in a bushfire prone area designated a strategic fire management area by the local council.
Concerned about fire risk at the outset, after beginning to research the risks as locals we are truly alarmed. The process of thermal runaway means that damage caused by overheating, crush damage, overcharging, internal short, external short or electrolyte leakage could lead to heat generation which cannot be stopped and simply builds, leading to hazards including smoke, fire, explosion, toxic gas production, flammable gas production.
There have been multiple fires at BESS plants throughout the world for example
- Geelong Big Battery during testing (2021) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-30/tesla-battery-fire-moorabool-geelong/100337488
- Moss Landing plant USA (early 2025) https://theconversation.com/when-the-worlds-largest-battery-power-plant-caught-fire-toxic-metals-rained-down-wetlands-captured-the-fallout-268848
- Moss landing USA (September 2026) https://www.thefpa.co.uk/fire-and-risk-management-journal/news/further-battery-fire-reported-at-moss-landing-bess-plant
- La Verne USA (September 2026) https://www.nbclosangeles.com/video/news/local/over-500-homes-under-evacuation-orders-in-la-verne-2/3946605/
- Daejong data Centre fire South Korea https://www.idtechex.com/en/research-article/korean-data-center-fire-heightens-the-need-for-improved-battery-safety/33821
- Bouldercombe ESS fire Queensland https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-27/tesla-battery-fire-at-queensland-renewable-energy-project/102905302
- and even a truck fire caused by a small battery in Nillumbik 'yesterday' (October 2026) https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1HgMQfuVTq/
Please support the safety of our community by signing and sharing this petition.
If you would like to know more or take an active role in the campaign against the Doreen BESS please join our local Facebook group Stop the Doreen BESS at https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1Dv6PMSZNA/
611
The issue
Please join our community in fighting the construction of one of the world’s largest battery energy storage facilities in Doreen, close to homes, schools, parks and the places we value most about living in our community.
The proposed "Middle Hut BESS" Battery energy storage plant is sited just east of Yan Yean road in the Nillumbik Green Wedge north of Melbourne. It includes 14 hectares of containerised BESS units, electrical infrastructure, switching, O & M building and control room, security fencing, retention ponds for holding contaminated water, lighting infrastructure and more.
The site where this industrial battery facility is planned is totally unsuited to industrial battery storage development. It is located on the side of a hill in the highly protected GWZ green wedge area of Doreen, Nillumbik (The Green Wedge Shire).
The site has an environmental significance overlay 'ESO1', classing it of the highest environmental significance . Located on Wurundjeri country, it has an Aboriginal cultural heritage overlay, and is overlooked by the heritage listed Arthurs Creek Cemetery. The site featured as site 90 in the 1997 NEROC report, and site 52 https://doi.org/10.26188/33399784 of the more recent 2013 Abzeco report into Nillumbik sites of environmental significance, both of which designated it a biolink corridor of special importance to allow wildlife movement through the landscape. The site sits on the top of the hill high above Stewart Ponds Creek and Chapel Lane gully which feed into the Diamond Creek where native fish and platypus live and breed and Melbourne's very own Yarra river.
The site is just outside the footprint of Black Saturday, in a bushfire prone area designated a strategic fire management area by the local council.
Concerned about fire risk at the outset, after beginning to research the risks as locals we are truly alarmed. The process of thermal runaway means that damage caused by overheating, crush damage, overcharging, internal short, external short or electrolyte leakage could lead to heat generation which cannot be stopped and simply builds, leading to hazards including smoke, fire, explosion, toxic gas production, flammable gas production.
There have been multiple fires at BESS plants throughout the world for example
- Geelong Big Battery during testing (2021) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-30/tesla-battery-fire-moorabool-geelong/100337488
- Moss Landing plant USA (early 2025) https://theconversation.com/when-the-worlds-largest-battery-power-plant-caught-fire-toxic-metals-rained-down-wetlands-captured-the-fallout-268848
- Moss landing USA (September 2026) https://www.thefpa.co.uk/fire-and-risk-management-journal/news/further-battery-fire-reported-at-moss-landing-bess-plant
- La Verne USA (September 2026) https://www.nbclosangeles.com/video/news/local/over-500-homes-under-evacuation-orders-in-la-verne-2/3946605/
- Daejong data Centre fire South Korea https://www.idtechex.com/en/research-article/korean-data-center-fire-heightens-the-need-for-improved-battery-safety/33821
- Bouldercombe ESS fire Queensland https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-27/tesla-battery-fire-at-queensland-renewable-energy-project/102905302
- and even a truck fire caused by a small battery in Nillumbik 'yesterday' (October 2026) https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1HgMQfuVTq/
Please support the safety of our community by signing and sharing this petition.
If you would like to know more or take an active role in the campaign against the Doreen BESS please join our local Facebook group Stop the Doreen BESS at https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1Dv6PMSZNA/
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Petition created on 2 October 2026