Gamuda Renewables enters Victoria market with solar & BESS project, signalling future data centre opportunities
Building on the success of its Central Tasmanian energy portfolio, Gamuda Renewable Pty Ltd (Gamuda Renewables) has made its inaugural Victorian investment by acquiring an interest in the Hazelwood North Solar Farm and Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) from Manthos Investments Pty Ltd (Manthos). The move increases Gamuda Renewables’ Australian portfolio to three assets across the National Electricity Market (NEM) and deepens the commitment to owning and building large-scale renewable energy infrastructure in Australia’s most populous energy markets.
The Hazelwood North Solar Farm and BESS project is an approved 450 MW hybrid solar and battery energy storage project spanning 1,100 hectares in Latrobe Valley, Victoria. The project is designed to pair up to 450 MW of solar generation with a 4-hour (1,800 MWh) battery energy storage system. When operational, the project is expected to power approximately 150,000 homes. With Development Approval already secured through Victoria’s Development Facilitation Program, the project is set to enter construction in 2028 with commercial operation expected in 2030, pending a final investment decision (FID)
The project will create approximately 450 local construction jobs — a meaningful economic contribution to a region with a proud industrial heritage and a workforce well-placed to play a central role in Australia’s energy future. For Gamuda Renewables, the Hazelwood North project represents a significant investment in Victoria, and the team is committed to ensuring its benefits are felt across the local community.
“This project brings together Gamuda Renewables’ capabilities, the Valley’s energy assets, and an expanding Data Centre presence to create something truly significant — a sustained economic uplift for the Latrobe Valley and its surrounding communities, now and well into the future.” — George Labros, Manthos.
The acquisition reflects the pace at which Gamuda Renewables has scaled since entering the Australian energy market in September 2024. Setting an initial target of 1–2 GW by 2029, the company achieved that goal in just under two years — and has since set its sights considerably higher, with an ambition to reach 5 GW of assets under development, construction, and operation by 2031. That growth trajectory is underpinned by the financial strength and aspirations of its parent company, Gamuda Berhad.
An Exciting Expansion: Data Centre Co-location at Hazelwood North
A key strategic dimension of the Hazelwood North project is its capacity for future expansion. Manthos and Gamuda Renewables are actively exploring an expansion of the project to include a co-located data centre on site — a prospect that aligns naturally with the growing convergence of renewable energy and digital infrastructure, and with Victoria’s own ambitions to attract world-class data centre investment to the state.
What makes this opportunity particularly compelling is Gamuda Renewables’ utility-neutral approach, in which a co-located data centre could be powered directly by on-site solar and BESS, operating with greater independence from the wider distribution network and leveraging the BESS as a “shock absorber” during periods of low and high demand.
This model reduces pressure on shared transmission infrastructure and offers data centre operators a genuinely differentiated proposition — clean, dedicated, reliable power, built and managed by the same team that constructed the asset.
Jarred Hardman, Chief Strategy and Development Officer at Gamuda Renewables, said: “Hazelwood North marks a significant milestone for us — not only as our first Victorian asset, but as a project that captures exactly where the energy transition is heading. The opportunity to expand the project to include a data centre is something both Manthos and our team are genuinely excited about. Pairing large-scale renewable generation and storage with the digital infrastructure that increasingly depends on it is a compelling model, and one we look forward to progressing in the months ahead.”
Supporting Victoria’s Renewable Energy Future
The project sits squarely within Victoria’s broader clean energy ambitions, supporting the state’s targets of 65 per cent renewable energy by 2030 and 95 per cent by 2035, as the government works toward net-zero emissions by 2045. The Allan Government’s decision to grant planning approval in September 2024 through the expedited Development Facilitation Program pathway reflects the state’s commitment to accelerating high-quality renewable projects — and Gamuda Renewables is proud to be delivering one of them.
The acquisition is subject to approval from the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB).