GE Renewable Energy has signed an agreement with Walcha Energy in relation to a 500MW pumped hydro storage project in New South Wales, Australia.
GE Renewable Energy’s hydro solutions business will provide technical and commercial support for the development of Dungowan pumped hydro storage power plant.
When built Dungowan will support the addition of 4GW of renewables capacity to the Australian grid.
“The Dungowan pumped hydro storage power plant will help facilitate new wind and solar projects and provide firming and grid support services at a critical point on the Australian National Electricity Market,” said Simon Currie, managing director of Energy Estate, one of the partners in Walcha Energy.
“The project represents a unique opportunity to tap into a high-head site, in close proximity to an existing reservoir. It is strategically located between retiring coal capacity to the south and emerging wind and solar capacity to the east, west and north,” Currie added.
The Walcha Energy project, in the New England Renewable Energy Zone, New South Wales, has the potential to produce more than 4GW of stable electricity from renewable sources.
The Dungowan pumped hydro storage power plant is intended to “anchor the broader development” and ensure that the additional wind and solar resources can be reliably and safely fed into the grid.
GE Renewable Energy hydro solutions chief executive Pascal Radue said: “Nearly half of the more than 8 GW of hydropower capacity operating in Australia today is powered by our turbines, generators or both.
“However, it has been many years since new hydro capacity was built in Australia, so GE Renewable Energy is excited and proud to be at the forefront of the next generation of Australian hydropower capacities.”
The New England Renewable Energy Zone is one of the largest of its kind in Australia and has been designated as a strategic priority by the New South Wales Government.
The Walcha Energy project has the potential to provide up to 15% of the state’s power requirements.
Dungowan would provide about 2% of that power, enough to supply roughly 125,000 households with electricity.