Tasmanian pumped hydro sites identified for feasibility studies
Updated
The State and Federal Governments are pushing ahead with plans to make Tasmania the battery of the nation.
Government ministers are meeting at Lake Cethana in the state's north-west to unveil a list of 14 sites with high potential for pumped hydro energy storage.
The process involves pumping water back up to the dams or storage areas it has come down from, after it has been through the power generator.
The 14 sites are at eight lakes across the state, and would have a combined capacity of up to 4,800 megawatts if developed.
Federal Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg said the list was whittled down from an earlier list of 30 potential sites identified in a joint federal and state study.
"We looked at the geology, the geography, the topography to ascertain through the various lakes — whether they're Lake Rosebery or Lake Murchison or Lake Margaret or Lake Rowallan or Lake Echo — whether they are the appropriate places for pumped hydro facilities," he said.
"You need to have two basins of water, and you need to have the right topography to move them up and down a hill and through spinning turbines to create power."
Mr Frydenberg said the projects would create about 3000 jobs in regional Tasmania over 10 to 15 years.
"There is a good economic case for Tasmania for expanding their existing energy generation assets," he said.
"Assets that can be used to stabilise the domestic energy system in Tasmania, and create thousands of jobs as well as also exporting power to the mainland.
"It's been used successfully in other parts of the country, and indeed pumped hydro facilities represent more than 97 per cent of all renewable energy storage across the world."
Increased energy storage would improve the business case for a second interconnector under Bass Strait.
Mr Frydenberg said the next step for the 14 sites was a 12-month pre-feasibility assessment, including "surveying to the highest available accuracy, modelling of both the market and water resource, and identifying environmental, cultural and social impacts".
The studies also looked at redeveloping the aging Tarraleah scheme, and enhancing the Gordon Power Station.
Topics: hydro-energy, electricity-energy-and-utilities, energy, tas
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