Alinta scraps $1.8bn hydro project

Alinta Energy has withdrawn plans for the 900 megawatt Oven Mountain Pumped Hydro Energy Storage scheme in northern NSW after economic and transmission challenges made it unviable.

Second major project fails this month

The Oven Mountain cancellation follows Origin Energy scrapping its proposed 870 megawatt Skye Ridge Wind Farm near Walcha in northern NSW earlier this month.

How pumped hydro works

Pumped hydro moves water between two dams through a turbine, storing energy during the day and releasing it during peak electricity usage at night to maximise profit.

Project location near Armidale

The Oven Mountain site was planned near Georges Junction at Carrai, sixty kilometres south-east of Armidale and seventy-five kilometres north-west of Kempsey in steep, forested Great Dividing Range country.

Mayor shocked by sudden cancellation

Armidale Shire Mayor Sam Coupland said he was shocked to learn of the decision this morning and questioned whether planning regulations had become too onerous, imposing costs that make projects unviable.

“It seems there are too many environmental hoops to jump through.”

Battery storage now cheaper than hydro

Tristan Edis, director at Green Energy Markets, said plummeting battery storage costs have put large hydro projects at risk.

“So, it's almost four times the cost to build pumped hydro.”

Transmission line was critical factor

Edis questioned whether the lack of a high voltage transmission line at the steep mountain site was significant to the decision, suggesting the project would not have proceeded even if government built the line at…

“I honestly think even if the transmission was to be built by the government at no cost to Alinta, it still probably wouldn't have gone ahead.”

Mixed local reaction to loss

Arthur Bain, Thunggutti Local Aboriginal Land Council chief executive, said there would be mixed feelings about the cancellation.