The Mt Rawdon site, located about 75km south-west of Bundaberg, was being developed to repurpose the open-cut pit of a gold mine that ceased processing operations in 2026 into the lower reservoir of a pumped hydro facility.
Energy-Storage.news reached out to the QIC regarding the reports. However, at the time of reporting, it had not received a comment.
The cost gap that questions did not resolve
The reported shelving of Mt Rawdon in favour of the 2GW/48GWh Borumba PHES site has left unanswered questions about the basis for the government’s choice.
The cost gap between the two projects is substantial. The state’s 2026-27 budget committed AU$324 million to early works at Borumba, with total project costs estimated at approximately AU$18.4 billion.
