New timeline revealed for controversial $18b Borumba hydro project
Residents near the Mary Valley’s $18.4 billion Borumba Dam pumped hydro project have been asked to share their views as developers seek to win community support. SPECIAL REPORT
Public feedback from residents around Kilcoy and Jimna are being asked for feedback on the proposed Borumba Dam pumped hydro plant, with the region to serve as a major access point to the $18 billion project.
Representatives for the renewable energy project visited Kilcoy, about 50km south of where the dam will be built near Imbil, have visited the town as part of ongoing community engagement efforts around the project.
A Queensland Hydro spokesman said the town and its surrounds was one of two main key entry points to the site, along with Imbil.
He said the site “is also accessed from the south via Yielo Road, Sunday Creek Road and Kilcoy-Murgon Road”.
“Queensland Hydro welcomes input from the public because we know that our proposed Borumba Project is ultimately better off when we have involvement from our neighbours and local communities.”
The developers are calling for expressions of interest from residents of Kilcoy, Jimna, and the surrounding areas to “capture the insights, opportunities, and concerns” of these communities about the project.
These close on Sunday, November 16.
He said the group was working to minimise the impact on housing and accommodation from workers brought in on the project.
A new, revised business case for the project is in the works too.
It was expected to be finished by mid-2026 and would ensure the project was aligned with the state government’s five-year energy roadmap.
The project, originally touted as a centrepiece of the former Labor state government’s future energy plan, has faced a rocky path forward after being beset by community backlash, cost blowouts, and a change of government.
The site was originally flagged as the possible home of a pumped hydro plant back in the 1980s, but it was not until about 30 years later in August 2021, that the government began heavily exploring that potential.
It initially invested $22 million for a detailed design and cost analysis.
In June 2023 the project was approved with a $14.2 billion budget.
Geotechnical exploration drilling began in October 2023, coinciding with the release of the final proposed transmission corridors needed to connect the hydro plant to substations at Woolooga and Toowong.
The proposed routes sparked criticism from landowners and residents of the regional areas in their paths.
In September 2024, $191 million in contracts was awarded for construction of worker camps and design of the project.
Three months later, in December 2024, a report into the project revealed the cost of the hydro plant had blown out to $18.4 billion.
An originally expected completion date of 2030 (and 2032 at the latest) was also revealed to have been pushed out by almost three years, with a less than 1 per cent chance of the project meeting its original deadline.
The report said the project’s risk-adjusted final completion date was now forecast for 2035.
In June, oversight of the project was transferred from the Queensland government itself to the government-owned Queensland Investment Corporation with state Energy Minister David Janetzski saying the move was to allow a “proper commercial assessment” of its options in delivering the pumped hydro plant.
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