Kidston Stage Two Hydro-Solar Project Activities
- $5m Funded by ARENA
- $13.3m Total project cost
Summary
The Kidston Stage Two Hydro-Solar Project activities project involves completing the activities required to achieve Financial Close for the Kidston Stage Two Hydro-Solar Project, which will comprise up to 270MW of solar PV and 250MW of pumped hydro. It will build on the existing 50MW solar farm already in operation.
Key results
The project was successful in achieving its outcomes and Financial Close was achieved in May 2021. Construction on Australia’s first PHES system in 37 years has commenced.
Read more at Kidston Pumped Hydro Energy Storage
Need
ARENA funding has been provided as the project is an innovative use of existing infrastructure and offers the potential for baseload renewable energy. The funding is being provided in the form of convertible notes for equity in Genex Power Limited.
Learn more
Report: Kidston Pumped Storage Hydro
This report outlines the issues encountered and lessons learned during the financial close process on the Kidston Pumped Hydro project.
Benefit
By supporting Genex in its project, ARENA is assisting in creating what could become the first large-scale pumped hydro/solar project in Australia. The benefits go beyond Genex to the broader renewable energy industry, as pumped hydro offers the opportunity to store intermittent generation for dispatch when required.
Read more
ARENAWIRE Blogs
How could pumped hydro energy storage power our future?
Reservoirs of water are poised to play a key role storing renewable energy to bolster the grid.
Renewable energy from abandoned mine site? That's gold
In the early years of the 20th century, Kidston was a classic Australian gold-rush town. Located 280 kilometres from Townsville, its population boomed from zero to more than 1000 people.
