Genex Power is reconsidering its Kidston wind project, scrubbing the proposal from its website, as it also pushes back the start date again on the flagship pumped hydro project.
The 258 megawatt (MW) wind project had already been cut to 120 MW last year and with the addition of an AC-coupled 150 MW, 600 megawatt-hour (MWh) big battery, and construction penciled in for 2026.Â
But the future of the project is now uncertain.
“The wind project is under review given the rising construction costs associated with the industry in general and complexities with the project location,” Genex chief Craig Francis says.
The Kidston location is about 280 km north-west of Townsville and connected to the main grid by a new 275 kilovolt (kV) power line, which is almost finished after the final tower was erected in February last year.
Genex, fully owned by former joint venture partner J-Power, has finished a 50 MW solar farm at the Kidston site and was planning to add the wind part as an expansion on the 250 MW, 2,000 MWh pumped hydro project that is being built around the old open pit gold mine.
It originally wanted to add another 270 MW of solar to the site, but those plans were changed and the wind project chosen as a priority instead.
But wind power has hit bumpy ground, out-competed on cost by battery-backed large solar and, in Queensland, politically difficult as planning minister Jarrod Bleijie has taken an active role in undermining the technology.
Reconfiguring the project again, or cancelling it, will also have consequences for the two offtake agreements Genex signed over the wind generation.
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.
Genex did not respond to questions about the offtake agreements before publication.
Kidston pumped hydro pushed back to 2027
The start date of the ambitious pumped hydro project has also been pushed back, with commissioning expected later this year and completion now set for July 2027.
The company has been quietly noting the one year delay since at least March when it was included in presentation slides, a detail picked up by Watt Clarity.
The project was quietly registered with the market operator in November last year and Francis told Renew Economy at the time that energisation of the first unit was expected for December.
But further delays have pushed out the original October 2026 start date, with the company blaming the fact that pumped hydro is coming back after a 40 year hiatus.
“This is the first time a pumped storage hydro has been built in Australia in over 40 years,” Francis says.
“There are no technical issues, it is just the complexity of the works that has resulted in construction taking longer than anticipated, particularly in the civil space. The project is currently progressing more efficiently through mechanical installation phase.”
Genex did not respond to questions about which particular parts of the construction process have experience delays before publication.
In 2022, the project was delayed when tunnel drilling penetrated water bearing rock and meant drill holes had to be plugged, and industrial action has also created holdups.
Only two pumped hydro projects are being built in Australia now, with the massive, and ill-fated 2,200 MWh Snowy 2.0 being the other.
Yet Kidston is the only one where private interests have bought into the dream.
There are five other pumped hydro projects in Australia that are being pushed forward by private interests and have also seen some action in planning in the past year, according to data mapper RenewMap.
These are Queensland’s Capricornia project, and in New South Wales there is Lake Lyell, Yarrabin, Muswellbrook and Stratford, backed by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, Energy Australia, Acen, AGL and Yancoal, respectively.
Genex, meanwhile, has announced changes to its other major project, the Bulli Creek solar and battery development, in the south of the state. See: Australia’s largest solar project changes shape as owner brings forward big battery to beat solar duck
If you would like to join more than 29,000 others and get the latest clean energy news delivered straight to your inbox, for free, please click here to subscribe to our free daily newsletter.
