Pumped Hydro

The Kidston solar-pumped hydro project is back on its feet after Japanese utility J-Power and Genex Power renegotiated their deal with the extension of funding provided by the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility Board earlier this month. The project had been thrown off-course after a shock decision by EnergyAustralia not to finalise a purchase agreement.

The Sydney-based developer has received credit approval to fund two of its solar projects. The announcement comes only days after Genex resumed trading on the Australian stock exchange in the wake of the Northern Australian Infrastructure Fund’s decision to extend offer of funding for the 250 MW Kidston pumped storage hydro project.

There’s no shortage of action in the New South Wales renewable-energy scene, with some 19.4 GW of large-scale renewable energy projects approved or progressing through the planning system, and around 2.5 GW of grid-scale solar under construction. Plus there’s 2 GW of generation and 175 hours of storage planned for the pumped-hydro project known as Snowy 2.0 – and that’s just what’s happening at the big end of town.

New Analysis from Hydro Tasmania shows the island state to be in a unique position to lead the nation in the production of green hydrogen from renewable sources.

After Genex Power’s offtake agreement with EnergyAustralia fell through earlier this month its concessional federal funding lapsed. However, the Project has secured an extension into 2020, hopefully allowing it enough time to restructure and reach financial close.

Genex Power has failed to lock in a previously announced offtake agreement with EnergyAustralia for its landmark Kidston hub in northern Queensland and requested a trading halt with the ASX on their securities.

Hydro Tasmania has released a white paper pushing the island state’s claims to become the Battery of the Nation via upgrades to the Victoria-Tasmania interconnector, an effort to unblock the backlog of solar and wind.

Among 31 dispatchable electricity projects unveiled this week under the NSW Emerging Energy Program, utility-scale battery storage accounted for a bulk of proposals. Four big batteries have been awarded funds for pre-investment studies, and another ten have been shortlisted for capital funding.

ITP Renewables has released Version 1 of open-CEM, an open-source modelling platform that allows users play out tailored made energy-transition scenarios on the National Electricity Market (NEM) for years simulated up to 2050. The platform is an extraordinary tool for investors, policy makers, project developers and the public.

The Queensland government has pledged to support Genex’s project at Kidston with up to $132 million. The funding will be used to build a single circuit transmission line and connect a massive pumped hydro project with the main grid, unlocking additional stages for the clean energy hub, including up to 270 MW of additional solar and up to 150 MW of wind.