Renewable energy companies want to repurpose disused mines for energy storage and other applications.
Now a renewable energy storage developer is repurposing legacy mineshafts in North West Queensland in the hope of helping to decarbonise the region.The energy stored is released back into the grid by lowering the objects back down the shaft. "This can decarbonise the bulk of emissions from the region as it pertains to electricity consumption," he said.The company has signed a memorandum of understanding with mining giant Glencore and Mount Isa City Council to allow for immediate development in the region and engineering concept study work has already commenced.
The company has secured more than $1 million from the Queensland government's Regional Economic Futures Fund, alongside industry partners, to develop a multi-faceted business tool assessing mine repurposing possibilities in the state's outback and Bowen Basin. "What we need is people who are in the regions, who have a real vested interest in in these futures, getting engaged in our project.Pete Whitbread-Abrutat, an adviser in mine site rehabilitation, has travelled the globe to discover the ways mines can be repurposed.