As someone living in Australia, I think the pumped-hydro is nothing more than a thought bubble introduced to take the heat out of renewables debate, which the g

As someone living in Australia, I think the pumped-hydro is nothing more than a thought bubble introduced to take the heat out of renewables debate, which the government was loosing. They announced it as a certainty, even though the design was nothing more than the one page press announcement, the project feasibility study yet to started and no construction expected for many years, if it indeed it is feasible. The government is pretty much 100% anti-renewables with their pet love being coal with their catchcry being Coal is good for humanity. Currently they are considering a $1B government loan to an Indian coal mining company, only because no bank will lend them the money. My take on this SA announcement is it might end up being a big blow for the government. If it works out as designed and fixes some of the issues in the SA electricity grid, it be egg on the face of the government, since they insist the SA grid is a disaster only because it has such a high reliance on renewables and is missing a coal powered generator.