Critical Kidston Hydro transmission line receives $132 million in State Government funding
The switch has been flicked on a billion-dollar renewable energy project that will create hundreds of jobs for Townsville and potentially lower electricity prices.
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THE switch has been flicked on a billion-dollar renewable energy project that will create hundreds of jobs for Townsville and potentially lower electricity prices.
The State Government will today reveal it will spend up to $132 million to build a critical transmission line to connect Genex Power’s Kidston Pumped Storage Hydro project to the electricity grid.
Genex Power executive director Simon Kidston said the funding was the final piece of the puzzle for construction to begin on the hydro project.
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More than 500 jobs will be created during construction of the hydro-energy project and up to 200 jobs will be created through the building of the transmission line.
“It’s the key cut-off that enables us to start construction before Christmas this year,” Mr Kidston said.
“Townsville will be critical in the delivery of this project.
“The reason for this is Townsville will be a FIFO hub and a large amount of businesses will work on the project.”
The project will be built at the old Kidston mine site, about 280km northwest of Townsville, and is the next stage of a renewable energy hub that already has an operating solar farm.
A $610 million loan by the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility was granted to Genex Power for the Kidston project in July.
State Government-owned entity Powerlink will build the single circuit transmission line from Genex’s Kidston site to Mount Fox, near Ingham, linking it to the National Electricity Market.
“North Queensland has high-quality wind and hydro-electric resources and providing transmission connection is the key to sparking investment in these resources,” Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said.
“This investment unlocks access to more energy generation for North Queensland.
“This infrastructure will support the development of a clean energy hub in the North, providing jobs, investment and energy security.”
Genex Power is currently investigating the possibility of establishing a wind farm at the site and is looking to expand the solar farm.
The new transmission line could potentially lead to a raft of other renewable energy projects in the area.
Energy Minister Dr Anthony Lynham said detailed planning was expected to start soon, with work to commence on site early next year, after the wet season.
“Building this breakthrough 186km transmission line and associated infrastructure will create 400 jobs over two years,” he said.
“And connecting 250MW of pumped hydro capacity will help make the North Queensland electricity network more reliable.”
The announcement comes after the State Government last week announced it would spend $1.18 million on Copperstring 2.0, an 1100km 275-kilovolt overhead high-voltage electricity transmission line from Woodstock to northwest Queensland.
Originally published as Critical Kidston Hydro transmission line receives $132 million in State Government funding
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