A $1.8 billion pumped hydro project planned by Philippines-owned ACEN has become the first using the notoriously costly technology to win support from the NSW government under its tender process for long-lasting storage capacity to keep the lights on through the energy transition.

The 800-megawatt Phoenix project proposed at Lake Burrendong, west of Mudgee, secured a contract in NSW’s largest competitive process for underwriting contracts for storage plants that can release energy into the grid for at least eight hours.