The Oven Mountain Pumped Hydro Energy Storage project is a proposed 900-megawatt / 7,200-megawatt hour 'off river' facility located on private land near the Macleay River between Armidale and Kempsey in the New England region of NSW.
The project is being overseen by Oven Mountain Pumped Storage (OMPS), which has partnered with Alinta Energy to co-develop the project. It is located within the New England Renewable Energy Zone.
The facility is expected to provide up to 12 hours of storage capacity. The project will include the construction of two reservoirs, tunnels and a new underground power station. As part of the project, upgrades to up to 60 kilometres of existing roads between Armidale and Kempsey will be required to allow for safe construction and operation access.
Key Dates
| Jul 2025 | Expected Construction Commencement |
| 2030 | Expected Construction Completion |
Funding contributions
| Federal Government | |
| NSW Government | |
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The Federal Government's contribution is through ARENA. |
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Procurement
| Procuring Agency: | Alinta Energy |
| Procurement note: | Alinta Energy has stated that the project's early contrcator involvement agreement does not guarantee the main works contract as the project is yet to have gained all environmental approvals or received a final investment decisison. |
| Related contracts: |
PROJECT HISTORY
| Apr 2020 | ARENA provided $951,000 in funding toward a feasibility study. |
| Oct 2020 | The NSW Government declared the project 'Critical State Significant Infrastructure'. |
| Jan 2021 | Alinta Energy submitted a Scoping Report to the NSW Government, requesting the Secretary's Environmental Assessment Requirements (SEARs) for the project. |
| Feb 2021 | The NSW Government issued the SEARs for the project. |
| Sep 2022 | The NSW Government provided $45 million to five pumped hydro projects through the NSW Pumped Hydro Recoverable Grants Program, including $10 million to the Oven Mountain Pumped Hydro project. |
| Sep 2023 | The project's State Significant Infrastructure application and Environmental Impact Statement was placed on public exhibition, closing 16 October. |
| Dec 2023 | WSP was appointed to undertake geotechnical investigations for the project. |
| Oct 2024 | Gamuda and Ferrovial Construction were selected as the Early Contractor Involvement partners for the project. The partners will progress the project's design and undertake preliminary procurement discussions with contractors. |
