Evolution Mining has lodged the environmental impact statement for its Mount Rawdon pumped hydro project with the Queensland Coordinator-General’s office.

Announcing the move today, the company said this was an important milestone for the project, which is being jointly developed by Evolution Mining and ICA Partners.

The Mount Rawdon hydro project is expected to generate more than 700 direct jobs during the construction phase and is likely to create 25 to 30 permanent jobs during the operational phase.

Evolution said more than $7 billion would be invested through the construction phase and establishment of a new power generator should the project proceed.

“We are very proud that Mount Rawdon will be the first operating gold mine that, upon reaching the end of its mining life, will be repurposed as a significant renewable asset critical to Australia’s clean energy future,” Evolution executive chair Jake Klein said.

“Mount Rawdon is set to become a 20,000MWh pumped hydro storage facility capable of powering up to two million Queensland homes every evening, providing essential firming capacity in Queensland’s transition to renewable energy.

“The recently completed feasibility study demonstrated that Mount Rawdon Pumped Hydro is economically and socially attractive and will be the lowest cost pumped hydro generation project per megawatt of capacity in Australia.

“At a time when concerns about the cost of living and energy security are at an all-time high, the feasibility study shows that the project can deliver lower power prices for Queenslanders, saving consumers almost $13 billion in its first 20 years of operation.”

Related: Evolution spruiks ‘compelling, low-cost’ energy solution

Evolution proposes to make use of the Mount Rawdon gold mine pit as a lower reservoir for the project after mining operations end at the site, 75km south-west of Bundaberg.

The mine is due to cease mining activity this year and ore processing in 2025 after about 25 years of operations.

The project has similarities to the Genex Power pumped hydro scheme in North Queensland, making use of the former Kidston gold mine pits as upper and lower reservoirs.

However Mr Klein told an investor day briefing last year the Evolution project would be eight times the size of the scheme under construction at Kidston.

Its stage of readiness made it the only viable replacement for the 800MW that would be lost from the grid with the planned closure of the Callide B coal fired power plant in 2029, he said.

In 2022, the Queensland Government’s Coordinator-General declared the Mount Rawdon pumped hydro development a coordinated project.