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There's a subtle difference between pumped storage and hydropower projects in Australia and globally. The difference is not just because we’re unique. There are certain aspects that are very Australian that we need to take care of before we get into the nitty gritty of engineering and all the other facets associated with that.
We should prioritise biodiversity and First Nations matters over everything else.
Once we've done prioritisation then we can move forward and look at the engineering and grid connections and so forth.
I've seen this over and over, that there is some early stage concept design or pre-feasibility done by somebody who's not resident in Australia that does not take these key aspects into consideration, and usually those projects struggle as they move forward.
When we retire our fossil fuel generation, we have to replace it not only with wind and solar that the bring, actually, the generation for us. But also make sure that we've got the integrity of our grid in terms of inertia, which is rotating inertia and the stability of the grid. So, batteries play a significant role in that. But also pumped storage needs to come in and essentially do the heavy lifting of retiring those coal assets. Certainly gas also plays a role, and lots of different technologies.
As in hydropower and pumped storage, we already harness all the hydropower potential in Australia, or most of them. But pumped storage is the biggest one that is playing out. We already have a couple of big projects around the country that that are under construction and more we'll see that will join the grid in different states.
So I see a really big role for pumped storage.
Hydropower Leader – Australia
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