Hydro Tasmania is pushing to have its Cethana pumped hydro project approved, launching a renewed application under the EPBC Act.
The company launched an initial referral in mid-2023 but was sent back by the Federal Government to complete further studies, prompting extensive geotechnical and engineering work and expansion of the project footprint.
Cethana is set to be developed in the vicinity of the existing dam Lake Cethana, a conventional underground hydro power station in north-west Tasmania. It forms part of Hydro Tasmania’s Mersey-Forth hydropower scheme – a run-of-river system that uses water from four main rivers.
Lake Cethana would act as the lower storage, with a new off-river upper storage to be constructed on a plateau west of the lake.
Hydro Tasmania sees Cethana as a key asset is delivering long-duration energy storage for growing Tasmanian and Australian demand as the grid transitions to renewable energy and adapts to a world sans coal-fired power plants.
“It will provide up to 750MW of dispatchable capacity to firm variable renewables (wind and solar), strengthen system reliability, and create regional economic opportunities,” Hydro Tasmania said in the referral.
The referral accommodates necessary project design refinements, but if changes arise outside a designated disturbance footprint, Hydro Tasmania said it will seek a variation to “an approval granted” under the EPBC Act or lodge a new referral.
The Cethana EPBC referral is open for public comment until January 29.
