Jobs being pumped out by project
THE first of up to 900 construction jobs are starting to flow from Genex Power’s Kidston pumped storage hydro project in North Queensland.
State Minister for Energy, Renewables and Hydrogen Mick de Brenni, who inspected the site northwest of Townsville this week, said 120 workers had begun building Wises Dam for the $777m project.
“Wises Dam, the project’s upper reservoir, will be able to deliver up to 4.5 gigalitres of water to spin the project’s two 125MW turbines for up to eight hours,” Mr de Brenni said.
“More clean, renewable energy means lower emissions as well as cheaper power for Queensland households, businesses and industry.”
The federal government’s Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility is providing a loan of up to $610m for the project, while the state government has committed $147m towards construction of the transmission line it needs, being built by stateowned Powerlink.
Mr de Brenni said the project was delivering jobs ahead of power with 120 workers on site, a further 100 workers mobilising before June, reaching a peak of 430 people on site by the middle of next year.
Genex and its partners are converting the former Kidston gold mine into a clean energy hub, which will combine wind, solar and pumped storage hydro.
Mr de Brenni said it would make a major contribution toward the government’s target to achieve 50 per cent renewable energy by 2030.
Resources Minister and Member for Townsville Scott Stewart said Wises Dam con
struction marked a significant step in a world-first integrated solar and pumped storage hydro project.
Genex Power CEO James Harding said it was the company’s flagship project and the first of its kind developed in Australia in more than 40 years.
“This is essentially a giant water battery, which will provide 250MW of electricity generation for up to eight hours, sufficient to satisfy Townsville’s peak power de
mand,” Mr Harding said. “We are now one year into the project delivery phase, and with site establishment complete and construction activities in full swing we are on track to commence generation before the end of 2024.”
The Kidston Pumped Storage Hydro Project and its associated transmission infrastructure is expected to be completed and feeding into the National Electricity Market by early 2025.