How pumped storage hydropower is unlocking broader renewable energy developments

The former gold mining settlement of Kidston in North Queensland is transforming into a renewable energy hub. This will combine solar and wind generation with a pumped storage hydropower facility that will smooth out supply to the grid through an emerging and critical role for pumped storage technology. Our teams are focused on design and delivery of this 250MW pumped-storage element, which is central to the hub. The design centres around reconfiguring two 300m-deep pits at a former gold mine, last worked in 2001. This innovative project is the first to be constructed involving re-engineering of a mining site into a hydropower facility in an approach that’s already now being emulated elsewhere. It’s based on a technology we have decades of experience with as a leading consultant in hydropower. At Kidston we successfully trialled proprietary computer modelling techniques that reduce the carbon footprint of infrastructure projects throughout their design, construction and operational life. Our adjustments to previous proposals for the facility have brought cost and carbon savings to the client, by calculating ways to maximise efficiency by reducing the quantity of new construction. Our approach to this Queensland energy storage project has demonstrated a cost effective and environmentally sound solution that is now helping our clients overcome the intermittent energy delivery of renewable power projects across the globe.