Planning approval granted for Hydrostor project

An old Broken Hill mine site will soon be transformed into a first-of-its-kind compressed air energy storage system, according to a statement released by the NSW government on Tuesday.

The Minns Labor Government provided planning approval for Hydrostor’s compressed air energy storage system with a capacity of 200 megawatts (MW) / 1,600 MW-hours (MWh). The Silver City Energy Storage Centre could power about 80,000 homes during peak demand while maintaining a reserve capacity of 250 MWh to provide back-up during outages.

The $638 million project is expected to create up to 400 full-time construction jobs and around 26 ongoing operational jobs.

During periods of low-energy demand, excess electricity is used to compress air and store it in large underground caverns. When energy demand is high, the compressed air is released, heated and expanded through turbines to generate electricity.

The project will be supported by a 65-year government lease on a Crown land site near the Potosi mine at Broken Hill.

Minister for Climate Change and Energy Penny Sharpe said: “Hydrostor’s Silver City Energy Storage Centre boosts the reliability of the NSW electricity grid and provides back-up for homes and businesses in the state’s far west in times of outages.”

Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Paul Scully added that the Minns Government is working to see industrial sites rehabilitated and renewed for future use.

With work expected to start this year, construction is estimated to take three to four years.

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