The Australian energy giant AGL has submitted its 400 MW/3.2 GWh Muswellbrook pumped-storage hydropower project, located in the Hunter Valley in New South Wales (Australia), for federal environmental approval. The Muswellbrook Pumped Hydro is planned on a former coal mine (active from 1907 to 2022) and is being proposed by AGL and the coal miner Idemitsu Australia (subsidiary of the Japanese petroleum company Idemitsu). The 400 MW, 8-hour storage hydro project was originally planned for a 250 MW/2,000 MWh, but was later redesigned to boost its capacity by installing underground tunnels connecting the upper to the lower reservoir and an underground hydropower station complex.
The New South Wales government awarded the Muswellbrook Pumped Hydro project ‘critical state significant infrastructure’ status in 2024 to streamline development approvals for the project and has granted a AUD9.45m (US$6bn) funding grant under its Pumped Hydro Recoverable Grants Program. If approved, the Muswellbrook project is expected to start generating power in 2029.
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