‘Could balloon to $18bn’: Hydro Pump, Qld’s most expensive project
Premier Steven Miles admits he can’t say exactly what taxpayers could be slugged for a pumped hydro-electricity project that could balloon to $18bn – but will push on with the plan anyway.
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A Queensland pumped hydro-electricity project slated to cut through the world’s platypus capital and furiously opposed by locals could balloon to $18bn – the state’s most expensive project ever.
Premier Steven Miles has admitted the state government can’t say what taxpayers will be slugged for the Pioneer-Burdekin Pumped Hydro project – but will push on with the plan anyway, despite defending his highly criticised cut-price 2032 Games plans over budget pressures.
Mr Miles faced a fiery reception at a community meeting in Eungella – about 70km west of Mackay – this week, as locals demanded answers over the project’s impact on the region’s platypus population and need for the resumption of about 50 homes.
He was also grilled on the project’s eye-watering cost – pitched at $12bn when announced by former Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk in 2022 – and admitted while it would go up, there had been no official revised costing provided.
“We have … indicated that since that costing was released the cost of everything has gone up, particularly the cost of building materials,” he said.
“And clearly there will be a lot of building materials in a project of this size.
“So we do expect that cost will have increased.”
That cost was on top of the $14.2bn for the Borumba Dam Pumped Hydro project – itself one of the country’s most expensive ever renewable projects and more than twice the cost of Queensland’s most expensive infrastructure project to date, Cross River Rail.
While Mr Miles refused to provide a figure, industry sources say the Pioneer-Burdekin Stage 1 cost was already likely sitting at $16bn-$18bn, before work has even begun.
One said with the rising cost of materials – on top of the state government’s BPIC policy, which offers inflated wages on major projects and has been accused of slashing productivity – the project overrun would already be in the billions of dollars.
“Pioneer-Burdekin in its first stage is similar in size to Borumba, so conservatively you would say it would have to be $14bn (a $2bn increase) – but more likely $16-18bn (a $4bn to $6bn rise),” one said.
Others went even higher – saying construction costs and labour force pressures would mean the project cost would likely soar above $20bn.
During the meeting, one local expressed concern about the platypus population – estimated to be about 300 – which lives within the project’s footprint and is regarded as one of the best places in the world to see the unique mammal in the wild.
At times Mr Miles appealed for calm, saying, “I will hear all of you without interrupting and I would ask that you would do the same”.
Central Queensland Collective conservation group’s Tonia Binsiar urged the government to pause the development until detailed studies could be completed.
“We’ve already lost too much to mining and so many other projects, we’d like the government to slow down and have a look at the massive impacts it’s going to make on what wildlife we have left,” she said.
Mr Miles defended the site selection, saying it was “one of the best locations in the world for a pumped hydro scheme like the one we need”.
Opposition Leader David Crisafulli said the LNP “categorically (does) not” support the project in its current form.
“We will never support a project that doesn’t have a cost and a BCR (benefit-cost ratio), that is the way that good, responsible governments conduct themselves,” he said. “Now the government can clear all of this up and explain the planning approvals, the traditional owners consent, the timeline delivery, the cost for delivery and the impact on Queenslanders bills and then we can make a decision on that.
“But there is no way a responsible opposition will ever support a project that doesn’t have any of those factors.”
But Mr Miles further doubled down on the need for Queensland to become home to the world’s largest pumped hydro facility after saying last month about the project, “you have to pay what it costs to build what you need”.
On Wednesday the Premier said it would serve the state for not just decades, but “hundreds” of years.
“What we know is that … pumped hydro is one of the cheapest ways to store energy,” he said.
“It will store renewables produced during the day at zero or very little cost and deliver it cheaply to households and to industries at night when the sun is not shining or when there is substantial cloud cover across the state.
“That’s why this project is so important.
“So while the capital cost will be large, the ongoing operating cost and the cost of the energy it delivers will be among the cheapest possible.”
Mr Miles also again defended his refusal to spend $3.4bn on a new stadium – as recommended by an independent review in to Olympic and Paralympic venues as offering the best value-for-money – saying, “when you spend dollars in government, you make a choice about your priorities”.
LNP energy spokeswoman Deb Frecklington took aim at the Premier’s appearance in the Pioneer Valley, accusing Mr Miles of having “put on a disgraceful display”.
“He sat in front of the Eungella community and wasn’t able to answer simple questions – well the most simple question is how much will the Pioneer-Burdekin project hydro?” she said.
“The Premier is unable to answer that.”
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