Mott MacDonald appointed to Muswellbrook Pumped Hydro Energy Storage project

Mott MacDonald has been appointed as owner’s engineer for the Muswellbrook Pumped Hydro Energy Storage project, in New South Wales, Australia.

Muswellbrook Pumped Hydro Pty Ltd, a joint venture between AGL and Idemitsu Australia, received AUD$9.45 million funding in late 2022 under the NSW Government’s Pumped Hydro Recoverable Grants Program, to progress the project.

Located in New South Wales, the project would repurpose existing infrastructure, using the site of the former Muswellbrook Coal Company mine. The water will be pumped 2km from a lower reservoir created within the rehabilitated mine void to the top of nearby Bells Mountain where it will be stored in a new reservoir.

If completed, the project would provide reliable, affordable and sustainable electricity to households and businesses across New South Wales. It would generate a minimum of 250 megawatts of hydroelectricity with eight hours of storage capacity (for a total of 2,000MWh of stored energy) to feed electricity into existing high voltage power lines nearby, facilitating the decarbonisation of the electricity grid and the growth of renewable generation.

As owner’s engineer, Mott MacDonald will help develop the reference design, which will include an upper and lower reservoir, a power station hall, approximately 2km of waterways, and a transmission line to connect the project to the National electricity grid.

Completion of the reference design will provide a platform for an Engineering Procurement & Construction (EPC) contractor to take on the task of developing a robust detailed design.

Commenting on the appointment, Brian Minhinick, global hydropower lead for Mott MacDonald said: “The scale and pace of energy transition requires connected thinking like never before. We are excited to be working with Muswellbrook Pumped Hydro Pty Ltd and our partners to leverage our proven approach to delivering a sustainable future.”

AGL General Manager Energy Hubs, Travis Hughes said: “Planning work for the Muswellbrook Pumped Hydro project is progressing well, and the appointment of the owner’s engineer is an important milestone as we move forward to the reference design phase. Pumped hydro has an important role to play in providing critical long duration storage, and this project would contribute to NSW energy transition.”