The Kidston Pumped Hydro Project is the flagship project of the Kidston Clean Energy Hub, located in Kidston, Far-North Queensland.
The Kidston Pumped Storage Hydro Project is the first pumped hydro project in Australia for over 40 years, the first to be developed by the private sector, and the third largest electricity storage device in the country.
The Project reached financial and contractual close in April 2021, with a total funded construction cost of around A$777M. Full swing construction at the Project commenced in May 2021, with completion of the Project on track for 2025.
Financing was underpinned by a A$610M 15-year debt facility from the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility, in addition to a $47M funding grant provided by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, a further A$3M of subordinated debt funding from Clean Energy Finance Corporation, and proceeds from the fully underwritten fundraising undertaken by the Company.
The Project has a low capex due to the unique reuse of existing mining pits (Wises and Eldridge) as the upper and lower reservoirs for the Project, and other infrastructure such as accommodation camp, airstrip and water supply – minimising construction time and cost.
The significant potential water head differential that the pits offer, and the vast quantity of water the pits can hold, means the Project has a high electrical efficiency and can support 2,000MWh of continuous power generation in a single generation cycle (250MW of peaking power generation over an 8-hour period).
A dedicated transmission line will unlock the potential of the Kidston Clean Energy Hub, and the power generated will be sold directly into the NEM, whilst the synchronous operation will add much needed system strength to the weak North Queensland grid.
The Project has unlocked the renewable generation potential of North Queensland, is contributing to the creation of 900 direct jobs, and will help the State achieve its Renewable Energy Targets of 70% by 2032 and 80% per cent by 2035.
Location:
Far-North Queensland
Nameplate capacity:
250MW
Generation duration:
8 hours
Storage capacity:
2,000MWh
Upper reservoir:
Wises Pit (52ha)
Lower reservoir:
Eldridge Pit (54ha)
Project lifespan:
80 years
Number of turbines:
2
Turbine details:
125MW reversible turbines
Start-up time:
<30 Seconds
Max gross water head:
218m
EPC & O&M contractor:
McConnell Dowell & John Holland
Engineering consultant:
Entura
Knowledge Sharing
$777 Million
- ARENA: $47M
- NAIF: $610M
- CEFC: $3M
- Queensland Government: $147M
- Lessons Learnt Report – May 2024
- Lessons Learnt Report – February 2024
- Lessons Learnt Report – December 2023
- Lessons Learnt Report – July 2023
- Lessons Learnt Report – March 2023
- Lessons Learnt Report – January 2023
- K2-Hydro Construction Report – November 2023
- Lessons Learnt Report – September 2022
- Lessons Learnt Report – June 2022
- Lessons Learnt Report – March 2022
- Lessons Learnt Report – December 2021
- Lessons Learnt Report – August 2021
- K2-Hydro Financial Close Report – August 2021