Gidarjil Development Corporation represents the Gurang and Gooreng Gooreng peoples in Queensland.
The Corporation was established in 2000 'to promote and support the economic, social, and cultural development in Indigenous communities within the Port Curtis Coral Coast (PCCC) region’, and in doing so, 'identifies and vigorously pursues employment, training, commercial and cultural opportunities that enable us to protect our traditional culture, create wealth, accumulate assets, and achieve our cultural and financial aspirations.
MOU
"The MoU outlines the deep partnership and commitment among parties to optimise environmental, social, and economic benefits, including local employment and further recognition of our cultural values." Dr Kerry Blackman, managing director, Gidarjil Development Corporation (2022)
Gidarjil Development Corporation signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Sunshine Hydro and the Burnett Mary Regional Group (BMRG) in August 2022.
It's related to the development of Djandori gung-i ("spirit in the water"), a superhybrid pumped hydro renewable energy project in the Gladstone-Bundaberg area near Miriam Vale, Queensland on land purchased by the Burnett Mary Regional Group.
The project
The Djandori gung-i Superhybrid project will combine 1.8 gigawatts (GW) of new wind generation and 600 megawatts (MW) of pumped hydro with 18 hours of storage.
It will also provide power to 300MW of hydrogen electrolysers, 50MW of liquefaction, and a 50MW hydrogen fuel cell, and would have the capacity to produce 65 tonnes of green hydrogen a day.
The project is located in the headwaters of Little Colosseum Creek (Upper Reservoir) and downstream waters of Little Colosseum Creek in the Gladstone Local Government area in Central Queensland.
In addition to two previous crowd-sourcing rounds offered in November 2023 and May 2024, Sunshine Hydro opened an A Round in June 2024 to raise $51.8 million from wholesale investors to further develop Sunshine Hydro’s projects.
It plans for the Djandori gung-i project to reach final investment decision in 2025 with commissioning in 2028, subject to regulatory approvals and final investment decisions.
Company commitments
Sunshine Hydro said it is 'exploring structures that would enable the Traditional Owners an equity stake in the projects developed in their country... We also have plans to allocate a fixed revenue stream from the project to local Indigenous organisations'.
Sunshine Hydro is committed to demonstrating how the renewables industry and Traditional Owners can work together to build new clean sources of power generation in Australia and beyond, while respecting and protecting the natural environment.
Sunshine Hydro says its ambition is to follow the ten best practice principles defined by the First Nations Clean Energy Network's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Best Practice Principles for Clean Energy Projects (2022).
First Nations equity partnership
In November 2023, Sunshine Hydro sold a 20% share option to First Nations Greentime Energy Group (FNGEG). It expects that FNGEG will become a long term partner in the project.
Sunshine Hydro’s website states it has also secured long term interest for its First Nations partners.
Where’s it up to?
The project was referred to the federal environmental regulator in 2025.
In January 2026, Sunshine Hydro is reportedly seeking to fast-track the Djandori gung-i pumped-hydro project by 'positioning Djandori as a coal-scale storage asset backed by contracted renewable energy and firming capacity when wind and solar output falls.'
Sunshine Hydro reportedly says the project can deliver "like-for-like" capacity to retiring coal-fired power stations that are already well connected to the grid.
More information
Company email: [email protected]