Community benefits

The Illawarra escarpment is a community asset

A plan for community, culture, and the environment

The Port Kembla Pumped Hydro Project is a rare opportunity to rethink how we manage and use the region’s natural assets for the good of all in the community.

An opportunity to preserve and protect

The catchment areas of the Illawarra Escarpment are beautiful pieces of natural and Indigenous cultural heritage. The problem is that much of the escarpment is off-limits. Through the impetus from the PKPH project, there is an opportunity for WaterNSW and NPWS management to provide access to the escarpment for responsible community recreation. There is major potential for walking and biking tracks and other community facilities that enables people to appreciate the region’s rich natural resources and integrate the Illawarra Escarpment into the community. Through appreciation, we can further conservation efforts.

Cultural knowledge

The Illawarra Escarpment is home to a rich Indigenous cultural heritage. As proponents of major infrastructure, we recognise the importance of seeking out indigenous voices and views for appropriate shared use of the land. This potentially includes access and control of culturally significant sites in the hands of local Indigenous peoples. Alongside meaningful dialogue, this project creates opportunities for educational activities that preserve and promote indigenous cultural heritage and knowledge.

Transport

PKPH is an opportunity to think big and to try new approaches to old problems. The project would require upgrading the Wollongong to Sydney high-voltage transmission lines. As governments wrestle with the social license of building high-voltage wires and poles overland, the proximity of the PKPH project to the rail network is an opportunity to use the existing infrastructure corridor as a transmission backbone.

In addition, new trunk transmission service tunnels could also be used for people transport. Imagine a high-speed transport tube, much like hyperloop proposals, that shrinks travel time between Wollongong and Sydney, and creates super-connected nodes on the existing rail network, which also shares infrastructure for people transport with power distribution. These attributes will be required to allow growth, electrify Sydney and reduce road congestion. While these ideas might seem worlds away, mc² Energy believes this project has enormous potential to be greater than the sum of its parts.