Introduction
While Australia faces its energy challenges, there are also
proving to be many opportunities emerging for existing industries
as a result of technological advancements and the falling costs of
renewable energy projects.
One such opportunity which has emerged for the mining industry
specifically is the potential to utilise former and abandoned mine
sites for pumped hydro energy storage (PHES). This
involves the use of a number of generation technologies to convert
the energy of moving water into electricity with excess energy
generated being released or used to continue passing water and
effectively turning the process into a battery. This development
has many excited, starting with both the Queensland and New South
Wales' governments at the top of the list, but importantly is a
priority for Commonwealth funding arms ARENA, CEFC and NAIF. Not
least of all, this is because PHES is seen as part of the solution
to the reliability and stability concerns
