Lithgow City Council Mayor, Maree Statham, has welcomed EnergyAustralia’s modification of its concept design for a Lake Lyell Pumped Hydro project in the region.
EnergyAustralia this week announced that the visibility of the proposed project will be significantly reduced following a decision to move the upper reservoir location to behind the southern ridge of Mt Walker and to locate the project’s pumphouse underground.
It says the design change was made in response to community feedback.
“The modified design appears to greatly reduce views of the project, which is proposed for Mt Walker, above Lake Lyell,” said Mayor Statham.
“If that is the case then that would be some comfort to those in the community who have raised concern about the potential visual impact of the reservoir embankments.”
In a statement, EnergyAustralia said the proposed new project location will also make it either not visible or significantly less visible from Lithgow’s Bowenfels, South Bowenfels and Hillcrest Estate.
EnergyAustralia’s Lake Lyell Project Director, Mike de Vink, said the design change followed community consultation over recent months.
“We’ve been out in the community, listening to people’s views on the project. Locals told us they were concerned about how the upper reservoir would look. We passed the challenge to our engineers, and we’ve come up with a solution which substantially reduces the project’s visual impact,” he said.
“It is expected that the new location means many of the private homes that would have seen the original upper reservoir design will now not see the upper reservoir at all.
“We acknowledge that some properties on Sir Thomas Mitchell Drive and on the Rydal side of Lake Lyell will continue to see the upper reservoir and we will keep working with those
landowners.
“The change demonstrates we are serious about listening to the community and taking action to address concerns. We’re also working hard to reduce environmental and cultural heritage impacts, where possible.”
Mr de Vink said an additional benefit of the new location was that the reservoir wall will now be built from natural rock rather than construction techniques using concrete.
“This is a big plus in reducing the carbon emissions associated with the project given concrete’s large carbon footprint,” he said.
“The new design will require some further geotechnical investigations to be completed. We will keep the community updated about this.”
The new position for the upper reservoir behind the southern ridge on Mt Walker is now the preferred option for the project and is detailed as part of EnergyAustralia’s recently released project Scoping Report and will be the location assessed as part of the project planning and impact assessment.
The Lake Lyell Pumped Hydro project is in the feasibility stage with a decision on proceeding likely at the end of 2024. EnergyAustralia says construction would take four years.
It says the 335MW project would provide energy for 150,000 homes for up to eight hours.
Mayor Statham said there were many other important issues to consider with the proposal, if it advanced as a project.
“The Council is legally required to await a formal development application before it takes any position for or against the proposal,” she said.
