Geotech drilling tender released for Pioneer-Burdekin pumped hydro project

It’s only the beginning but new jobs are already coming online as spending on a massive renewable energy project west of Mackay rolls out.

Queensland Hydro CEO Chris Evans speaks at the Queensland Energy Club in Mackay on March 22, 2023. Picture: Contributed

More jobs are up for grabs across Mackay as work on the state government’s mammoth $12bn Pioneer-Burdekin pumped hydro scheme ramps up.

On April 6, Queensland Hydro, the public entity charged with delivering the 5000MW renewable energy project, released a tender for geotechnical drilling, one element of a larger 18-month feasibility investigation.

The tender calls for contractors to drill up to four boreholes to depths of 225m to 850m.

“The boreholes are to be located adjacent to the proposed upper reservoir and emergency cable and ventilation access tunnel locations at Dalrymple Heights, with road access on Dalrymple Road, via Eungella,” the tender document states.

“Due to land access constraints and unknown time frames for drilling works, limited notice will be provided by Queensland Hydro prior to commencement of the works on site.

Queensland Hydro CEO Chris Evans has expressed confidence regional businesses can gain from the massive energy project. Here he speaks at the Queensland Energy Club in Mackay on March 22, 2023. Picture: Contributed

Before construction projects, boreholes are drilled to assess the condition of the underlying soil or ground.

Queensland Hydro CEO Chris Evans said he was “confident” Mackay firms could nab some of the work in the early phases of the project.

“We ran an expression of interest process last year to understand the capacity and capability of the Mackay region and we are very happy to see the high levels of capability in the region,” he said.

“We definitely expect firms from the Mackay region to be undertaking some of this work.”

The tender closes on May 6 and follows the release of a January tender for front-end engineering design, which will examine the technical requirements of the project and help Queensland Hydro reassess cost.

It is understood the winner of that tender will be announced this month.

If it goes ahead, Pioneer-Burdekin, labelled by Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk as the “battery of the north”, will be the largest pumped hydro scheme in the world, outstripping the 3600MW Fengning station in northern China.

The project’s massive generation capacity comes in part because of its rare 700m head, or the vertical elevation between the upper and lower reservoir.

The Pioneer Valley near Netherdale. The small township is set to be inundated for the project. Picture: Duncan Evans

The Borumba pumped hydro scheme near Gympie by contrast has a 330m head and a capacity of 2000MW.

“Five thousand megawatts is a very large power station in any books,” Mr Evans said.

“Globally, this is a significant power station.”

The project serves as a linchpin for a $62bn plan to reconfigure Queensland’s energy system and move it onto a renewables base.

If constructed, it would store and dispatch half of the state’s energy needs with renewable energy by 2035.

Pioneer Valley residents, some of whom are set to lose their properties to make way for the scheme, have reacted with fury to the announcement and rallied against the project at Bluewater Quay in February to drum up more opposition.

Nationals Senator Matt Canavan, One Nation Senator Malcolm Roberts, One Nation Mirani MP Stephen Andrew and former Dawson MP George Christensen also attended the rally.