The recently privatised Genex Power has revealed a dramatic change in its plans to expand the Kidston clean energy hub around the country’s first new pumped hydro project in four decades, slashing the proposed wind component by half and adding a big battery.
Genex was planning to add a 258 megawatt (MW) wind farm to the Kidston hub, expanding on the 250 MW, 2,000 MWh pumped hydro project that is being built around the old open pit gold mine, and which will start commissioning later this year, running a few months behind schedule.
The company – now wholly owned by former joint venture partner J-Power – says the expansion plans have changed. Instead of 258 MW of wind, the planned wind capacity has been slashed to just 120 MW, and an AC-coupled 150 MW, 600 MWh big battery added to the project.
Genex says the structure of the newly dubbed Kidston Hybrid Project (K3-Hybrid) will “enhance performance, improve reliability and minimise environmental impact.”
It is not the first change of plan for the Kidston hub. It already includes an operating 50 MW solar farm, and had considered adding another 270 MW of PV, but those plans were changed and the wind project chosen as a priority instead.
In 2023, Genex signed an off-take agreement with EnergyAustralia to take 30 per cent of the output of the planned wind project, and agreed another deal with state government owned Stanwell to take 50 per cent of the output. Both those agreements will need to be reconfigured.
CEO Craig Francis says the decision to halve the wind component will help with approvals, both with the community and with the grid. “Standalone wind was looking difficult (because of its location in the grid),” he told Renew Economy.
“It’s still early days, we are still getting things lined up.” He said the cost of wind was a factor but not a key driver of the decision, given that wind in Queensland has added value because it mostly blows when the sun does not shine for solar PV. And the battery component will benefit from the falling cost of battery storage.
In an earlier statement, Francis says the pumped hydro project, which will act like a giant water battery – will be commissioning by the end of the year and fully operational in the first half of 2026. It will be the first new pumped hydro facility to be completed in Australia in 40 years.
“It’s running a bit late. It is the first one to be built for a long time,” Francis told Renew Economy. “We are working through and learning through the complexities.”
Construction of the wind and battery hybrid will begin in early 2026, employing around 180 people during construction and up to 10 jobs once operations commence.
“The workstreams for resource monitoring, procurement (BESS, wind turbines, and balance of plant), grid, and both State and Federal planning approvals are all well-progressed,” Francis said in the earlier statement.
The company is currently a series of community information sessions in a roadshow that will stop into Charters Towers, Einasleigh, Greenvale, and Townsville, and outline local business and employment opportunities.
“The sessions will provide insights into the project’s purpose and key specifications, current and upcoming activities, including wind turbine transportation and potential community impacts,” the company says.
