Townsville Enterprise submitted the Hells Gates Dam detailed business case to the State and Federal Governments in May 2022.
Hells Gates Dam is more than just a dam for North Queensland. It is a transformational project for the region, that will create economic opportunity and prosperity for decades to come.
Once the Detailed Business Case is approved by the State and Federal Governments, work can begin on pre-construction tasks that will take the project to ‘shovel-ready’ status.
Among other items, pre-construction works include the generation of the necessary Environmental Impact Statement, Cultural Heritage works, continued stakeholder, community and government engagement activities, geotechnical studies and detailed design, engineering, and procurement plans.
Once this tranche of pre-construction works is completed, the construction project can begin which will ultimately deliver:
- Up to 10,600 FTE construction jobs
- $1.3b contribution to GRP during construction
- Up to 3,300 FTE ongoing jobs
- Facilitate up to 60,000ha of diversified, high-value irrigation product
- Create $800m worth of direct agricultural outputs per year
- Generate $6b increase in GRP from agriculture projects, positively impacting the entire supply chain from the farm gate to export terminals in Townsville, and beyond.
Project History
In 2018, the $2.2M Hells Gates Dam Feasibility Study, managed by Townsville Enterprise with funding from the Federal Government’s National Water Infrastructure Development Fund, confirmed the viability of the $5.4 billion irrigated agricultural and power project on the upper Burdekin River.
The findings of the study identified Hells Gates Dam Irrigation Project has the potential to redefine Northern Queensland’s agriculture sector and underpin long-term export market growth and investment.
The Federal Government committed $54M towards Phase 1 of the Project which includes $30M for the first stage of Big Rocks Weir at Charters Towers. The final Business Case for Big Rocks Weir was delivered to the Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy and North Queensland Water Infrastructure Authority on 21 August 2020 and has had both State and Federal governments commit $60M for the construction of Big Rocks Weir.
The remaining $24M funded the Detailed Business Case of the Hells Gates Dam and Irrigation Scheme, including preliminary geotechnical and cultural heritage assessments, construction proposals, enhanced economic modelling works, environmental and social impact assessments and engineering investigations. The Detailed Business Case assesses and provides further investigative works into the findings of the feasibility study completed in 2018.
In March 2022, the Morrison Government announced $5.4bn in funding for the Hells Gates Dam project subject to a business case.
In May 2022, the Hells Gates Dam Detailed Business Case was submitted to the State and Federal Governments. The business case proved the Hells Gates Dam project would deliver jobs and generate economic benefits for generations.
The Albanese Government deferred the project for 12 months and after only six months, Hells Gates Dam was scrapped without any consultation with the project proponents or community and the funding removed was from the October 2022 Federal Budget.
**WARNING**
Visitor access to the Hells Gates Dam site is strictly prohibited. Approval is required through SMEC Head Contractor or Townsville Enterprise Limited. A minimum of 48 hours’ notice is required. To request approval for site access please email [email protected]
