A temporary accommodation camp for up to 84 workers is now operational at the Borumba Pumped Storage Hydro Project site in Queensland.
Queensland Hydro has completed construction of the Walkers Top Rapid Deployment Camp (RDC), which is currently housing around 30 staff and contractors involved in early-stage construction. These works include preparations for a larger Temporary Workers’ Accommodation Camp (TWAC) planned for the next phase of the project.
The Walkers Top RDC consists of about 60 temporary buildings delivered and installed in recent months.
Queensland Hydro Executive General Manager of Delivery, Geoff Scott, said the camp marks a key step in the project’s progress and reflects efforts to limit disruption to the local community.
“For remote projects, it is very important to be able to accommodate your workers near where they work. Queensland Hydro has talked with and engaged with the community to ensure we understand local perspectives. We have considered these in our planning and we are actively seeking to reduce impacts on local housing and tourism accommodation and to reduce individual vehicle movements to our site where we can,” Scott said.
“The Rapid Deployment Camp has been built to meet the immediate needs of our workforce, including the group who are commencing the construction of a larger temporary workers’ camp which over time will be able to house up to 336 workers.”
The future TWAC will include amenities such as a wellness room, gym, running track, social room, and laundry facilities.
“By progressively building temporary workers camps on-site now, we can sustainably accommodate the gradually increasing workforce, while at the same time reducing the need to occupy local accommodation and reducing individual vehicle movements in the regions,” Scott added. “Our camp is also providing the right conditions to look after the welfare and safety of our workforce by drastically cutting their commute times each day. This ensures we are managing fatigue and providing workers the opportunity to relax and recharge sooner after a long day’s work.”
Approval for the temporary accommodation was granted last year by the Queensland Coordinator-General under a works regulation.
Queensland Hydro is currently focused on delivering an updated business case and commercial assessment for the Borumba Project. The plan will align with the state’s five-year energy roadmap and is expected to be finalised by mid-2026.
Ongoing work includes refining the design to improve cost and schedule certainty while reducing environmental, cultural and community impacts. Regulatory approvals for the exploratory phase are still being sought, with that phase to include further site investigations to inform the final project design.
