Tilt Renewables plan to build $440 million pumped hydro plant at Highbury gets big boost
PLANS to build a $440 million hydroelectric power station and nature park on a vast quarry site in one of Adelaide’s exclusive foothill suburbs have moved forward, with a State Government decision to ban housing on the site.
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PLANS to build a $440 million hydroelectric power station on Adelaide’s northeastern outskirts have moved forward with a State Government decision to ban housing on the site.
Planning Minister Stephan Knoll has decided to reject 10-year-old plans to rezone large parts of a former dump near Lower North East Rd for housing.
Mr Knoll said uncertainty remained over methane gas within two former landfills, with monitoring confirming further work was required before 83ha of land could be developed.
The landfill sites are next to a 830ha former quarry site which has been earmarked as the potential location for a pumped hydro electric power station.
Mr Knoll has told Tea Tree Gully Council he had decided not to proceed with a Development Plan Amendment (DPA) released by former planning minister Paul Holloway in 2009 for the adjacent landfill sites.
“I advise that this DPA and its investigations are no longer a reflection of the current circumstances and are therefore outdated,” wrote Mr Knoll.
“If the mitigation measure for the site (to control the methane) can be resolved it would be appropriate that a new DPA be initiated, and the assessment of the environmental risk posed by the Highburgy landfill be considered along with the rest of the DPA.”
A New Zealand-owned energy company which has invested $1 billion into wind farms near Snowtown, in the Mid North, is conducting feasbility studies into building a hydro-electric stored electricity station on land next to the landfill sites owned by cement maker Holcim.
Tilt Renewables began planning the project under the former Labor government and since has provided an update to new Energy Minister Dan van Holst Pellerkan.
The project involves the construction of a pumping station beside a lake at the bottom of Torrens Rd which would transfer water up pipes to another lake near Anstey Hill in a former quarry.
Water from this holding pond would then be pumped back down through a second set of pipes into turbines which create electricity.
The station would be activated at times of low energy production from wind and solars farms in the state’s north because of poor sunlight or low winds.
Tilt Renewables has held community forums with nearby residents to explain the project. The residents, particularly those in the exclusive Wicks Estate development, were vocal opponents of plans to develop housing on the Highbury landfill site.
Among concerns was that methane from the former dump could leak, putting residents at risk. The concerns were exacerbated by an incident at Cranbourne, Victoria, in 2008 when hundreds of residents were evacuated after dangerous levels of the gas leaked from a disused landfill.
Tilt Energy general manager (generation and trading) Nigel Baker said residents had been supportive of his company’s plans to build a hydro-electric power station.
Mr Baker said the project included creating a large amount of public space, especially around the lower pond and opening parts of the former landfill for public use.
“What we are hoping to do is being able to link Anstey Hill Conservation Park with the Torrens Linear Park,” he said.
“There is a lot of land there which could be made available for recreational use.”
Mr Baker said he was optimistic the project would proceed, with Mr Knoll’s decision not to allow housing near the site enhancing its viability.
“The Highbury site has a number of characteristics which make it interesting for pumped hydro, given the nature of the terrain and the historical works that Holcim have undertaken on the site,” he said.
Mr Baker said the site had not been used for quarrying for a number of years.
“Whilst the project is currently at the pre-feasibility stage, we believe that re-purposing it for pumped hydro energy storage could be a good outcome for the site, the community and for the South Australian electricity network,” he said.
“If everything stacks up, there’s a good chance it will go ahead,’’ he said.
“We didn’t really want to build a hydroelectric power station near housing.”
Mr Baker said no formal planning applications had been made yet for the project.