Coal is retiring, and new sources of renewable energy like wind and solar are low cost and becoming more plentiful. But they are variable, which simply means the wind doesn't always blow and the sun doesn't always shine. Energy in storage that can quickly be made available is needed to help fill the gaps and maintain the reliability of our electricity supply. That’s where Tasmania can help!
We’ve assessed Tasmania’s pumped hydro development opportunities around the state. We identified three top priority pumped hydro opportunities from a $2 million pre-feasibility study jointly funded by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and Hydro Tasmania.
A feasibility assessment then looked these opportunities at Lake Cethana and Lake Rowallan in the North-West and near Tribute Power Station on the West Coast. We gathered more detailed information and assessed the suitability of each site for development, based on a range of technical, environmental, social and economic factors.
Deep storage capacity, greater cost and technical certainty, environmental and social sustainability and flexibility in sizing and capacity make Cethana the preferred site.
We are seeking Commonwealth, state and local government approvals for the project. Community consultation will be important as we progress our technical studies and project approvals..
We lodged a referral to the Commonwealth Government under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) in July 2023. After the public exhibition period, the referral is now back with Government for further assessment. You can read more on our project web page.
Selecting a suitable pumped hydro site for future development is a complex process! There are many different factors that we look at and prioritise. We used technical, environmental, social and economic factors to make the assessment including:
There is a growing need for deep storages (those with a duration of 12+ hours) in the future energy system, as we rely more on wind and solar. Lake Cethana is a 750MW capacity project with up to 20 hours deep storage duration to meet expected future market needs. You need storage to help "fill the gaps" when the wind doesn't blow and the sun doesn't shine.
We are seeking Commonwealth, state and local government approvals for the project. Community consultation will be important as we progress our technical studies and project approvals.
We lodged a referral to the Commonwealth Government under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) in July last year. After the public exhibition period, the referral is now back with Government for further assessment. You can read more on our project web page.
This is all part of our work to reach a Final Investment Decision, which is a commercial assessment of the project’s viability.
In consultation with the community, we are progressing specialist technical studies to understand potential project impacts and opportunities, and to inform the regulatory approvals process.
These studies include:
The findings of these studies will be shared with communities as we progress.
We are committed to ensuring host communities and directly impacted communities can benefit from the project. We want to hear from local communities about ways to leave a legacy through local content, local employment and other initiatives that directly address community needs.
There will be a range of opportunities to talk to us over the coming months so that we can better understand the views of the community and any concerns, issues and opportunities.
Visit our Cethana project page to stay up-to-date!
As wind and solar power continues to grow, water can play an important role in bringing renewable resources onto the power grid. One way is by storing energy through a proven technology known as pumped hydro energy storage.
Pumped hydro is a flexible technology that can respond to various electricity demands. It consists of reservoir at higher elevation (upper storage) and a reservoir at lower elevation (lower storage). When the demand for electricity is low, or when renewable sources are abundant, water is pumped to the upper storage. It is then stored.
When the demand for electricity is high, or when renewable sources are scarce, the water in the upper storage is used to generate electricity.
Pumped hydro helps to ensure electricity network reliability and enables the addition of more renewable electricity to the grid, resulting in a lower cost of electricity generation.
Our short video explains how it all works!
Australia gets most of its power currently from coal-fired power stations but these stations are starting to close and this will continue over the next few decades.
Wind and solar are now starting to replace coal-fired generation but they are variable. That’s simply because the sun doesn’t always shine and the wind doesn’t always blow.
So we’ll need energy storage in the future, to provide back-up (fill the gaps) and ensure energy is reliably available when consumers need it.
Pumped hydro is a proven technology for storing large-scale clean energy and makes up around 95% of grid energy storage globally.
Pumped hydro technology:
Why here is Tasmania? Our state has natural advantages in developing pumped hydro because we have existing assets and storages, and very suitable topography with lots of steep hills.
Want to find out more? Check out this short video.
We’ve put together some commonly asked questions about pumped hydro.
We welcome views from the Tasmanian community and will continue to keep you informed as studies progress. Your suggestions on the best way to provide project updates are welcomed and if you have questions, please contact us.
You can also visit our project page - https://connect. hydro.com.au/cethana-pumpedhydro