Kidston Pumped Storage Project

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The Kidston Pumped Storage Project is a feasibility study into the construction of a pumped storage hydroelectric power plant at the disused Kidston Gold Mine in North Queensland.Located 280km north west of Townsville, the project has the potential to generate up to 330 MW of rapid response, flexible power for delivery into Australia’s National Electricity Market. The Kidston Pumped Storage Project led by Genex Power recognises electricity generation in a pumped storage system works much like a conventional hydroelectric scheme: in periods of high demand, electricity is generated by releasing water from an upper reservoir through reversible turbine-generators and into a lower reservoir.However, unlike a conventional hydro scheme, water is not then discharged from the lower reservoir but pumped back to the upper reservoir during off-peak hours using electricity from the grid. This process is similar to the Wivenhoe Pump Storage scheme and Snowy’s Tumut 3 scheme.The Kidston Project would be a highly efficient form of large-scale energy storage that helps to manage the growth of intermittent forms of renewable energy such as solar and wind.Intermittent generation can therefore be stored and dispatched to the grid during periods of high demand.

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