| Australasia
sharing the findings and actively soliciting input from the local community. He highlighted the project’s responsiveness to community concerns - the location of the upper reservoir was recently adjusted in response to apprehension about project visibility voiced by local residents. The proposed 335MW Lake Lyell pumped storage scheme is projected to supply energy to over 150,000 households for a span of eight hours. Additionally, the construction phase is anticipated to create up to 600 employment opportunities. Over in Queensland, the Borumba Pumped Hydro
Energy Storage project has achieved a pivotal status as a coordinated project and signifies a crucial step forward. The coordinated project paves the way for an assessment of the project’s social, economic, and environmental impacts. Project developer, Queensland Hydro, is set to embark on an ambitious plan that includes the construction of a new upper reservoir and a dam wall to replace the existing structure at Borumba Dam. This upgrade will result in a substantial boost in Lake Borumba’s storage capacity, from 46 to 224 gigalitres. Furthermore, the Borumba Pumped Hydro
project is anticipated to generate up to 2000MW of electricity, solidifying its role as a critical component in Queensland’s renewable energy landscape. Deputy Premier Steven Miles expressed his enthusiasm, stating: “This marks another step forward for the Borumba Pumped Hydro Energy Storage project, and further progress towards our state’s future as a clean energy superpower. Over the past year, we have led the nation in the construction of new clean energy projects, driving new investment and generating good jobs for Queenslanders.” Meanwhile, in an effort to bring integrated dam engineering and strategic advisory expertise to the Queensland dam market, Tractebel, and Aurecon have formed a strategic teaming agreement. The partnership brings together the capabilities of both companies to provide a full suite of advisory and engineering services for the planning and delivery of major dam projects. The fusion of Aurecon’s deep regional expertise with Tractebel, ranked as the top hydro plant design firm in the world by Engineering News-Record (ENR), spans all aspects of the dam project lifecycle from dam safety assessments, detailed design, construction assurance, operations readiness, and environmental assessment to strategic advisory services. Marius Jonker, Technical Director for Dams at
Aurecon, said the partnership was a response to the surging demand for dam upgrades in Queensland. “Queensland has become a global epicentre of dam infrastructure projects underpinned by the systemic drivers of climate change, ageing assets, and the imperative to protect our communities. By combining Aurecon’s leading engineering and advisory capability with Tractebel’s global dam engineering expertise, we are empowering our Queensland clients to confidently deliver the pipeline of dam projects for the benefit of communities across the state. We are very excited to bring contemporary and transformative capability and capacity to the Queensland dam market, enabling us to work with clients to tackle their most complex problems.” As Tractebel’s Head of Water, Matthieu Béraud,
noted: “Tractebel has a proud heritage of delivering large and complex dam projects across the globe and entered the Australian market recently through the
pumped hydro storage projects Snowy 2.0 and Big T. Combining our experience with Aurecon’s eminent Australian based dams capability and its broad infrastructure engineering and advisory expertise, this partnership enables us to focus our business on the needs of Queensland dams clients.”
Recognition Renewable energy company Sunshine Hydro has
clinched the prestigious 2024 Telstra Best of Business Award in Queensland, acknowledging its efforts in promoting sustainability. Chairperson Michael Myer lauded the recognition, and pointed to the company’s Superhybrid business model as a compelling solution, vividly exemplified by the Djandorigung-i project near Gladstone, which carries the name “Spirit in the Water,” given by their First Nations partners. Sunshine Hydro’s CEO, Rick McElhinney, elaborated on their innovative Superhybrid technology, which utilises proprietary software known as AESOP to seamlessly integrate renewable wind and solar energy with pumped hydro energy storage while simultaneously facilitating the production of green fuels like hydrogen and methanol. The Djandorigung-i project, currently awaiting approval, is slated to include 600MW of pumped hydro energy storage and 350MW of electrolysis, with the potential to power up to 400,000 households and support a fleet of 4,400 long-distance trucks. Over in Tasmania, one of Entura’s engineers
has received the top accolade in the Tasmanian chapter of the Australian Engineering Excellence Awards for his contribution to renewable energy developments and dam safety over his 30-year career. David Gerke, a principal civil engineer at Entura, was named Professional Engineer of the Year and will now represent Tasmania at the national Australian Engineering Excellence Awards later in the year. The Australian Engineering Excellence Awards (AEEA) identify, recognise and reward outstanding achievement in the practice of engineering and service to the profession, promoting industry excellence across engineering projects and professionals, and highlighting the significant contribution engineering makes to communities. “David is highly valued and respected by all his colleagues at Entura and has made substantial contributions to the development of sustainable renewable energy and water projects in Tasmania, mainland Australia and throughout the Indo-Pacific,” said Tammy Chu, Entura’s Managing Director. On winning the award, Gerke said he was
honoured to be recognised for his contribution to the engineering industry through 32 years of project work, and was proud to have played a role in creating and maintaining safe dam and hydropower infrastructure. “While this is an individual award, my achievements
also reflect the expertise, innovation and professionalism of my many colleagues at Entura,” he added. Gerke is currently project managing upgrade works
at Lake King William to prepare for redevelopment of the Tarraleah hydropower scheme to participate optimally in the changing energy market and support integration of more renewables as part of Hydro Tasmania’s ‘Battery of the Nation’ initiative. This project is fundamental both to Tasmania’s Renewable
www.waterpowermagazine.com | December 2023 | 15
Above: Drought stricken Murray- Darling basin in Australia. Water security in the region will depend on the ability to manage resources through changing climatic conditions
Below: Keepit Dam in northern New South Wales. By 2070, future predictions indicate that inflows into the dam could reduce by up to 50%
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45
