Muswellbrook Shire Council has teamed up with AGL to work on plans for a new hydro energy storage facility.
The proposed facility has the potential to power every home in the Hunter for up to eight hours and could create up to fifty jobs in the region.
Council's General Manager, Fiona Plesman, said Muswellbrook is always looking at innovative projects for the region and began looking into renewable energy options in 2017
"We undertook some research with academics at ANU and Newcastle University to look at some sites that would be suitable for pumped hydro," she told 2NURFM News, explaining that pumped hydro energy storage systems require two reservoirs to work.
"And in Muswellbrook we have quite a few mining voids, so we're always interested in what future use there is after mining, and that's where the idea came from."
Council put out a tender for the work, and recently signed a deed with AGL.
According to Fiona Plesman, the next stage of the process is already underway.
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| Part of the Snowy Hydro energy storage system in Victoria. Image: ABC |
