Australian gold mine to be transformed into energy hub

An abandoned gold mine located in north Queensland, may soon be transformed into a large renewable energy hub.

Queensland state development minister Anthony Lynham announced Thursday that the 580 million Australian dollar (424 million U.S. dollars) energy hub, which will be run by Genex Power, could produce enough energy to power half the state.

"The Kidston project will support our policy to generate 50 percent of Queensland's electricity needs from renewable energy by 2030," Lynham said.

"The project has the potential to meet all the peak power generation demands of North Queensland and some of Central Queensland."

"It is a private project, but we are doing everything we can to get it up and running," he said.

The energy hub will be a world first, by using the former Kidston gold mine, which closed in 2001, for hydro-electric power generation.

The project which includes a 150-megawatt solar generation farm and a 330-megawatt pumped storage hydro-electric scheme is expected to create more than 500 jobs.