Dungowan Pumped Hydro Energy Storage Project
EDF Australia · developer: Mirus Energy / Energy Estate (acquired by EDF Group 2023; co-development)
pumped hydroearly proposalConfidence: High
Capacity and technology
Technology
pumped hydro
Capacity (MW)
300 MW
Storage
3.00 GWh
Estimated capex, local spend and peak workforce
Total development cost
~$1.35B benchmark estimate
300 MW × $4.5M/MW (pumped hydro, high site-specific variability)
Industry benchmark only — not project-specific. Sources: Clean Energy Council, BloombergNEF 2024 Australian utility-scale LCOE inputs, AEMO ISP 2024 cost assumptions. Actual capex varies materially by site, OEM, supply chain and grid-connection works.
Estimated local / regional spend
~$297M benchmark estimate
22% of capex — Clean Energy Council benchmark for renewable energy construction in regional Australia. Actual local content varies by project siting, procurement strategy and any access-scheme local-content conditions.
Estimated peak construction workforce
~450 roles benchmark estimate
Industry benchmark: ~0.7 FTE/MW wind, 0.5 FTE/MW solar, 0.4 FTE/MWh BESS, 1.5 FTE/MW pumped hydro. Peak during civil/electrical phase only — operations workforce is typically ~5-10% of construction peak.
Workforce breakdown — sector mix and phasing
Sector mix and phase distribution for the estimated construction workforce. Basis: industry norm (Clean Energy Council, ARENA, AEMO ISP 2024 + comparable EIS Social Impact Assessments). Numbers are decision-support indicators, not a project-specific forecast.
By service sector / industry (peak year)
Civil / earthworks
~225 FTE
Electrical trades
~68 FTE
Mechanical / structural
~68 FTE
Plant operators
~45 FTE
PM / engineering / env
~23 FTE
Logistics / admin
~23 FTE
By phase (across construction window)
| Phase | FTE | What's happening |
|---|---|---|
| Mobilisation + civils (year 1) | ~270 | Site prep, access roads, foundations, early electrical. Civil trades dominant. |
| Peak construction (year 2) | ~450 | All trades concurrent. Turbine / panel delivery, electrical install, commissioning prep. |
| Commissioning / demob (year 3) | ~315 | Specialist electrical and testing. Civil and structural ramping down. |
| Operations (ongoing) | ~32 | Permanent O&M workforce — typically 5–10% of construction peak. Plus periodic major-maintenance windows. |
Sector mix from CEC, ARENA and AEMO ISP workforce profiles for utility-scale Australian builds. Phase distribution from comparable EIS Social Impact Assessments. Indicative only — actual workforce varies with OEM, contractor strategy, weather and OSOM scheduling.
Approvals and access rights
Project status
early proposal
Planning status
DA lodged with Tamworth Regional Council for geotechnical / hydrogeological investigations (boreholes, seismic, access tracks). Public exhibition closed 1 November 2024.
Access right status
not awarded
EPBC status
unknown
Grid connection
unknown
Financial close
not at financial close
Construction start
unknown
Operations start
unknown
Location
LGA
Tamworth Regional
Region
New England NSW
REZ
New England REZ
REZ relationship
inside declared REZ
Coordinates
-31.3, 151.2 (approximate)
Project documents — EIS, SEARs, proponent pages
Direct links to public documents and pages for this project. Phase 2 ingestion will pull updates automatically; Sprint 0 entries are verified manually with a confidence score per record.
- proponent pageConfidence: Very highDungowan Pumped Hydro Energy Storage Project — EDF Australia (project site)https://www.dungowanpumpedhydro.com.au/ ↗Project-specific website. 300 MW × 10 hours = 3,000 MWh storage. Dungowan Valley 45 km SW of Tamworth.
Notes
Status updated: early proposal — DA lodged Tamworth Regional Council for investigation works. Full project not yet at SSD stage. Note that Dungowan Creek Alliance is a community opposition group operating publicly.
Source confidence: 70/100
Last verified: 2026-05-13
Every material fact on this page is sourced. A "View source" link is provided per source below.
Last verified: 2026-05-13
Every material fact on this page is sourced. A "View source" link is provided per source below.
Source evidence
Confidence: High- secondaryProponent project websitesView source ↗Proponent-supplied content from each project's dedicated page on the proponent's website. Useful for technology, capacity intent, community engagement messaging, project newsletters, fact sheets and timeline updates. Cannot override official planning_status or epbc_status. Per-project page URLs are tracked under each project's project_documents.
- secondaryCouncil minutes — CWO REZ LGAsView source ↗Council minutes, agendas, planning decisions affecting REZ delivery.
- supportingMedia reporting (context only)View source ↗Media is used for context, controversy, timing signals and public scrutiny — never as the source of truth for regulatory status.
Open questions
- Planning status against the NSW Planning Portal — verify SSD reference.
- EPBC referral status — verify against DCCEEW public notices.
- Storage MWh and voltage figures — confirm from proponent documents and AEMO Generation Information.
- Workforce and accommodation commitments — confirm in SSD documentation or VPA.
- First Nations engagement reporting — confirm in IEP / cultural heritage chapter.
See this project in context
REZ workspace
New England REZ
All projects, pressure bands and shared-value commitments for this REZ
LGA detail
Tamworth Regional
7 projects · everything affecting this council area
Workforce + supply ratio
Demand vs ABS baseline
How this REZ's peak compares to existing regional workforce
Regional spend
Annual flow by year
This project's share of the year-by-year capex flow into regional NSW
Project timeline
Gantt by REZ
Visual overlap with neighbouring projects' construction windows
Cross-sector pressures
Non-REZ competing demand
What else is being built in the region in the same window
Upcoming decisions
4 relevant to this project or REZ
IPC meetings, EIS exhibitions, council determinations