Mott MacDonald and GHD have been appointed to deliver engineering services for the design of the 250 MW Kidston Pumped Storage Hydro Project, for the McConnell Dowell, John Holland Group joint venture.
Project owner Genex Power will convert a disused gold mine into a pumped-storage hydroelectric power facility, to strengthen the power system in North Queensland as part of their renewable energy hub, including up to 320 MW from solar and 150 MW from wind.
The project will be the first pumped hydro plant to be built in Australia since 1984, and the first to be used specifically to support the integration of variable renewable energy generation and grid strengthening.
The project requires the conversion of two existing mine pits into reservoirs. It involves the construction of significant underground infrastructure including a large powerhouse cavern and waterway shafts and tunnels to allow the transfer of water between the upper and lower reservoirs to generate power when solar and wind generation is not available and return water back to the upper reservoir when there is an abundance of renewable power.
