Queensland Hydro has called for public comments on its proposed Borumba Pumped Hydro storage site, suggesting forward momentum despite the new LNP government axing the state’s other major hydro project late last year.
The Borumba Project is a proposed 2,000 MW pumped hydro energy storage project (PHES) at Lake Borumba, near Imbil, west of the Sunshine Coast.
The project had an estimated cost $14.2 billion, and wasexpected to power by 2030, but an updated report released by the new LNP government suggested its costs had blown out by more than $4 billion to more than $18 billion.
Its construction would involve widening the existing lake and building a second reservoir at higher altitude, as well as constructing an underground powerhouse to link the two reservoirs together.
In November, the LNP scrapped the departing Labor government’s Pioneer-Burdekin Pumped Hydro Scheme, arguing that the project was not viable – despite a Queensland Hydro report stating that some smaller alternatives were in fact viable.
That scheme, which would have been one of the world’s largest PHES, was planned for the Pioneer Valley, west of Mackay, thanks to its advantageous topography and proximity to major renewables projects.
Queensland’s Deputy premier Jarrod Bleijie said at the time that the project was, “not financially viable, not environmentally appropriate, and the community was never consulted”.
Instead, the LNP government has proposed building a series of smaller pumped hydro projects, but the details of these have yet to emerge, even as the Queensland Conservation Council (QCC) urged them to reveal their new hydro sites within the first 100 days of their tenure.
“It’s really important that the new State Government is upfront about which pumped hydro projects they’re considering,” said QCC Director Dave Copeman in a statement in November last year.
“Queenslanders want to know they’re serious about getting on with the energy transition, but also critically, we need to be able to assess the potential environmental impacts of their plans.”
Copeman said the community had not been afforded enough transparency around why the previous government chose the Pioneer-Burdekin location in the first place, and urged the LNP not to make the same mistake.
Queensland state premier David Crisafulli confirmed in November that pumped hydro remained an essential component of the state’s energy plans in order to shore-up the energy system at a time of transition.
As it stands, Wivenhoe Power Station at the Wivenhoe Dam, near Brisbane, is the only operational pumped hydro plant in Queensland.
The public comment period for the Borumba project opened on Friday, and will close at midday on Monday 10 March 2025. The call is for comments on documentation Queensland Hydro has prepared as part of the approvals process for the exploratory phase of the works.
The future of renewable energy in Queensland remains hazy following the change of government.
One of Crisafulli’s major promises to voters was to repeal the state’s renewables targets of reaching 50 per cent renewables by 2030, 70 per cent by 2032 and 80 per cent by 2035. It has already tightened planning rules for wind projects and proposes to do the same for solar.
Instead, Crisafulli insisted he was committed to reaching net zero by 2050, but that the state would get there through an as yet un-delineated plan “that revolves around solar, pumped hydro”, as reported by this masthead.
Last week, the LNP announced it would not provide the promised $1 billion or more in funding for the Central Queensland Hydrogen Project (CQ-H2).
That project, backed by state-owned Stanwell Corporation and several international partners, was meant to start operations in 2029, exporting green hydrogen and ammonia to Japan and Singapore.
Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen expressed disappointment at the move.
