The New South Wales government has declared two pumped hydro energy projects worth more than AU$7 billion as Critical State Significant Infrastructure (CSSI).
The two projects are ZEN Energy’s AU$3.5 billion Western Sydney Pumped Hydro project at Lake Burragorang and ACEN Australia’s AU$3.6 billion Phoenix Pumped Hydro project near Mudgee.
NSW Energy Minister Penny Sharpe placed both projects on the planning fast-track as they would help secure the state’s clean energy future.
“These projects will help stabilise the grid, support energy reliability during peak demand periods and underpin the transition away from coal‑fired power,” Sharpe said.
“Long‑duration storage like pumped hydro is essential to building a modern energy system that works for households, businesses and industry across NSW.”
ZEN Energy’s project is a proposed 1,000-megawatt renewable energy generation and storage project that will supply 500,000 homes and businesses with on-demand power.
Much of the project will be underground, making use of land that once served as a coal washery.
The site will serve as a lower reservoir from which water will be pumped from nearby Lake Burragorang through underground tunnels to an upper reservoir, situated on the old coal washery site.
The ACEN Phoenix Pumped Hydro Project is a large-scale, long duration renewable energy storage facility.
The 800-megawatt project will have storage sufficient to deliver power for 12 hours with total maximum storage of 15 hours for approximately 600,000 homes**.**
Both projects are in the early planning stages and are located on WaterNSW land.
NSW Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Paul Scully said: “These two pumped hydro projects could play a vital role in supporting our energy security together able to generate enough energy to power [more than one million homes] during peak demand.
“These projects are part of a strong pipeline of renewable energy proposals that shows industry confidence in our planning system and our commitment to delivering the infrastructure NSW needs for a clean energy future.”
The state government has approved 44 renewable projects since 2023 that are capable of powering 5.2 million homes.
There are currently more than 50 renewable energy, storage and transmission projects under assessment.
If approved, these 13.5 GW of generation projects could produce enough electricity to power about six million homes.