Projects

Sunshine Hydro is developing a portfolio of projects that will generate 24/7 Carbon-free Energy and Green Fuels.

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Our project portfolio

Over the years, we have identified and assessed more than 70 project opportunities out of a pool of hundreds of prospective sites for a pumped hydro station. More recently, in tune with the price trends, our scope has widened to include projects with a different long duration energy storage, like a flow battery. 

We are also developing stand-alone green fuel projects, that are relatively quick to commission and hence a faster response to the urgent need of decarbonising transport sector. We expect to merge these assets into a Superhybrid™ ecosystem in due course.

Social licence

We put a lot of care into the relationship with all community stakeholders and we actively seek ways to genuinely benefit local communities. Most importantly we listen to the locals.

Our aim is to have a significant positive impact on the natural environment and local community, including the First Nations people.

We are deeply committed to environmental protection and do not support unnecessarily damaging practices, even if they are legally permitted.

We are conscious, that any construction will impact the prevailing habitat, but so does climate change – our approach is to do our best to protect the biodiversity while decarbonising. 

We are dedicated to carefully considering this complexity in our projects, and also expect that of the wind and solar farm developments from which we will source renewable energy.

First Nations engagement and participation

We believe that the social and economic opportunities that the clean energy revolution represents should be shared with First Nations peoples. To walk the talk, we have signed 20% of our flagship project through an option agreement with the First Nations Greentime Energy Group.

Our ambition is to follow the ten guiding principles which have been defined by the First Nations Clean Energy Network and set out in its 2022 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Best Practice Principles for Clean Energy Projects.

  1. Engage respectfully
  2. Prioritise clean, accessible and accurate information
  3. Ensure cultural heritage is preserved and protected
  4. Protect Country and environment
  5. Be a good neighbour
  6. Ensure economic benefits are shared
  7. Provide social benefits for community
  8. Embed land stewardship
  9. Ensure cultural competency
  10. Implement, monitor and report back

SA Green Fuels

Sunshine Hydro is developing a stand-alone green fuel production plant in partnership with a forestry company in South Australia. This partner will provide the biomass and is a potential off-taker for green methanol. The technology stack used in this project will ensure the project will have the lowest cost of production of green methanol in Australia.

The stage one of the project will generate 100,000 tonnes of green methanol.

Key products and benefits:

  • Numerous secure employment and contracting opportunities
  • Reduced risk of plantation wildfires.
  • New revenue opportunities for underutilised resource
  • Circa 100,000 tonnes p.a. green methanol
  • Circa 30,000 tonnes p.a. biochar
  • 3% equity reserved for locals including First Nations community
  • Economic diversification through new supply chains
  • Significant GDP impact on Australia trade balance
  • Improved Sovereignty
  • 176,000 tonnes p.a. CO2eq abatement

The technology stack includes:

  • Biomass gasification 
  • Methanol synthesis

Djandori Gung-i Pumped Hydro Project

The Djandori Pumped Hydro project will be situated in the mountain ranges south of Gladstone, QLD.  The project scale is similar to a coal fired power station and will provide power to help service the Gladstone industrial region.  A benefit of the project will be the provision of a public water supply source for the nearby town of Miriam Vale.

Key products and benefits:

  • Numerous secure employment opportunities.
  • Green power to support Gladstone industries and homes.
  • Secure water supply source for Mirian Vale
  • Numerous electrical features supporting the power grid

The technology stack includes:

  • Two water storage reservoirs
  • Large pump system
  • Large hydro-power generators
  • Electrical Transmission lines
  • Water treatment plant
  • Water supply trunk main
  • System Optimisation

Djandori Gung-i Technical Details

Djandori Pumped Hydro Energy Storage (PHES) is highly capital‑efficient because its key physical parameters sit in an optimal range for pumped hydro. With an average head of about 480 m, it lies in the widely recognised 400–500 m “sweet spot” where each cubic metre of water delivers substantial energy, reducing required flow, tunnel size and reservoir volume per MW, without the escalating technical complexity and cost that often appears at higher heads. Coupled with an upper–lower reservoir separation of only about 2.3 km, Djandori can use short, high‑head waterways that minimise excavation, lining and hydraulic losses, improving both capital cost and round‑trip efficiency. The reservoir geometry also provides an efficient rock‑to‑water ratio, with terrain that supports deep, well‑contained storage for relatively modest embankment lengths, which lowers cost and physical footprint per MWh of storage.

By way of comparison, Djandori’s 27 GWh of storage is equivalent to roughly 2 million home batteries, and its 1,400 MW of power output is similar to a typical coal‑fired power station, but delivered as flexible, fast‑responding renewable storage. The project’s efficient reservoir parameters and short transmission distances (around 10 km to the nearest line and about 27 km to the furthest 275 kV line) naturally mean a smaller environmental footprint than many lower‑head, more dispersed alternatives. In addition, the proposal to drought‑proof Miriam Vale through upgraded desalination and new pipeline connections embeds a clear community benefit into the project design.

 

Northern NSW Pumped Hydro Project

Sunshine Hydro’s NSW flagship project is in early stages of detailed planning. The land for the pumped hydro station is secured and the project is will  strengthen the northern NSW grid by adding long duration storage.

As more renewable energy comes into the grid this project can store energy when it is plentiful and release back to the grid when needed. This is a capital efficient pumped hydro project due the very short separation distance between reservoirs, the closeness to strong transmission infrastructure, and efficient reservoir design.

The project will provide provide 4 GWh of energy storage: this is equivalent to 300,000 home batteries. It will also provide 240 MW of fast response generation which can be added to the grid when needed.  It also provides 240 MW of load which is important to soak up excess renewable energy at times when it is abundant.

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