James Harrison says white ants eating buildings is about all that happens in the north Queensland ghost town of Kidston.

Key points: Genex Power is set to begin construction of a pumped storage hydro project at Kidston in north Queensland

Genex Power is set to begin construction of a pumped storage hydro project at Kidston in north Queensland The project is set to be a gold mine for electricity stability

The project is set to be a gold mine for electricity stability The town's four residents are looking forward to the temporary population boom

As one of four residents, he likes it that way.

"Nothing's boring out here," he said.

"The one thing about Kidston is that there's no time limit. If I don't achieve it this year, I might achieve it next year."

But Kidston time is ticking.

Across the road from Mr Harrison's off-the-grid home in the town, about 270 kilometres north-west of Townsville, are two disused gold mine pits.

By year's end, they will likely have begun to be converted into Australia's fourth pumped storage hydro facility.

The lower reservoir of the former gold mine at Kidston. ( ABC News: Sofie Wainwright )

Hundreds of construction jobs

Genex Power's 250MW Kidston Pumped Storage Hydro project is expected to create more than 350 construction jobs — mostly fly in, fly out from Townsville — over three and a half years.

CEO James Harding said at least another 700 construction jobs would be created when building the transmission line, as well as the solar and wind components of the project.

"We have an expectation there will be between 20 to 25 long-term direct employment positions and you can multiply that by a factor of two or three for indirect jobs," Mr Harding said.

Mr Harrison's house in Kidston is off-the-grid. ( ABC News: Sofie Wainwright )

The four residents who live in the former Kidston township work for Genex Power and are not worried by the projected temporary population growth at the former mining cabins, just a few kilometres down the road.

"If you don't work on a station you have to go away and work, so it will be good for the [surrounding] locals — they don't have to travel far," Luke Ryan said.

Mr Harding said the company intended to begin construction by the end of this year.

"We will start the mobilisation before Christmas and we will look to be ramping up full mobilisation of the site over the next three or four months," he said.

Gold mine for electricity network

Experts said the Kidston Pumped Storage Hydro project would be a gold mine for electricity stability.

"There is an urgent need for this pumped storage capacity," Professor Jamie Pittock from the Fenner School of Environment at Australian National University (ANU) said.

Kidston's residents are looking forward to the projected temporary population growth in their town. ( ABC North Qld: Dwayne Wyles )

"More and more Australians are putting solar panels on the roof and we're seeing this welcome investment in wind farms.

"We need to be able to store the excess electricity when the wind is blowing at 2am or the sun is burning bright at lunch time."

ANU engineering professor Andrew Blakers said storing the best wind and solar in Australia would benefit north Queensland.

"North Queensland can supply anticorrelated solar and wind electricity to the south," Dr Blakers said.

"Wind and solar, supported by storage in north Queensland, can make north Queensland independent of grid disruptions for electricity flowing from the south.

Mr Harding said the project would drive down wholesale electricity prices which would largely be felt by Queenslanders.

Genex Power CEO James Harding (left), Senator Matt Canavan, and Genex Power chairman Ralph Craven at the old Kidston gold mine. ( ABC North Qld: Sofie Wainwright )

"The effect of the pumped hydro project generating into the network in peak times will act to depress those peak prices," Mr Harding said.

"The overall benefit will be over $500 million over the term of the project."

Powerline will 'ruin our business': farmer

Genex Power said it had secured most approvals and funding, including a Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility loan of up to $610 million.

It had been waiting on the Queensland Government to agree to help fund the construction of a high voltage transmission line to link the project to the National Electricity Market.

The State Government will help cover the cost of building a high voltage transmission line. ( ABC North Qld: Dwayne Wyles )

After years of consultation and assessments, today the Queensland Government announced it would spend up to $132 million for Powerlink to build and operate a single circuit transmission line and substations from Kidston to Mount Fox, subject to agreement of final conditions with Genex.

However, the proposed transmission line traverses 16 privately-owned properties, including farmer Des Boltons' place near Greenvale.

Mr Bolton has opposed the route for years because of concerns it would ruin his organic certification for his cattle, fruit trees, and crops.

He said the new transmission line should follow an existing powerline corridor to avoid negative consequences.

Farmer Des Bolton says the proposed route of the transmission line will ruin his organic business. ( ABC North Qld: Sofie Wainwright )

"The proposed powerline will ruin our business," Mr Bolton said.

"We use single electric wire fencing and underneath a powerline it takes on a charge and therefore, is deadly to anyone who uses it so you get electrocuted.

"We will end up with this introduction of weeds — we can't just simply go out there with a spray tin — and some of those weeds, like the Siam weed, it poisons the cattle.

"There is no compensation that's good enough for me to go back to our staff and say 'you've lost all your jobs'."

Powerlink consulting with property owners

Minister for Natural Resources, Mines and Energy, Anthony Lynham, said all concerns would be considered by Powerlink.

"Powerlink will be negotiating with properties and they will be starting very shortly indeed," he said.

"Their concerns are certainly taken into account."

A symbol of Kidston's gold mining history is the ruined, heritage-listed stamper battery. ( ABC North Qld: Dwayne Wyles )

A Powerlink spokeswoman said extensive consultation had been undertaken, including with Mr Bolton, where three independent specialists were assessing environmental outcomes specific to his property.

"If the project proceeds, other activities such as easement acquisition, compensation negotiations, and payments will occur in close consultation with landholders and other stakeholders," the spokeswoman said.

"Powerlink infrastructure effectively co-exists with many different land use types and farming methods across Queensland, including grazing."

Mr Harding said Genex had made efforts with Powerlink to follow existing transmission easements and he believed there was generally good acceptance of the line.

