Qld Hydro reveals $25m drilling work for Borumba Dam plan

Plans to build a multibillion-dollar pumped hydro plant in the Mary Valley have taken another step forward, despite lingering questions about the project’s environmental impact.

Images from the Initial Statement Advice report into the proposed Borumba Dam pumped hydro plant.

Three Queensland companies have won $25 million of work to undertake exploration drilling at the site of a proposed $14 billion pumped hydro plant near Gympie.

Chevallum-based GeoDrill Australia, Tier 1 Drilling at Morayfield, and Jimboomba’s SJ Drilling have been awarded contracts from the state government to undertake geotechnical surface drilling at Borumba Dam, the proposed home of the facility.

Drilling will only start once Queensland Hydro has secured the required approvals, a statement from Qld Hydro CEO Kieran Cusack said.

Mr Cusack also said he was pleased to have Queensland companies involved in the 2000MW project.

“Pumped hydro is unquestionably the right technology to enable Queensland’s clean energy transition,” he said.

Chevallum-based GeoDrill Australia, Tier 1 Drilling at Morayfield, and Jimboomba’s SJ Drilling have been awarded contracts from the state government to undertake geotechnical surface drilling at Borumba Dam, the proposed home of the hydro plant.

“Our proposed projects offer real opportunities for local businesses to use their experience and capability to assist us in building these generational assets.

“This is a two-year program of work, which provides local companies with certainty and surety and keeps economic benefits flowing into the region.

“While some companies may never have worked on pumped hydro or a renewable energy project before, their skills and expertise are transferable, and they can positively contribute to the ongoing development of these projects.”

The drilling contracts follow another $190 million in works on the project awarded to Queensland-based companies.

These included $40 million for the design of the dam’s upper and lower reservoirs. and $111 million to design and construct two worker camps at the site.

The project has stirred controversy since it was announced in 2021, with backlash from some residents living in the proposed path of more than 70km of high voltage transmission lines that will connect the facility to the state power grid.

Questions have been raised also on the status of environmental reports seeking approvals for the project, which in June 2024 still had not been submitted to the federal government.