Snowy 2.0’s delivery remains set for its December 2028 completion. The project is now 67% complete and Snowy Hydro believes material cost pressures mean it is the time to oversee FGJV as it carries out the cost reassessment. Independent construction cost experts have been engaged to verify the principal contractor’s reassessment, which is expected to take up to nine months to complete.
Snowy Hydro CEO Dennis Barnes said Snowy 2.0 had made good progress since the 2023 project reset. Delivery rates have almost doubled in the past two years, with the average monthly progress of 0.57% increasing to 0.91%, and August 2025 hitting 0.98% delivery.
“Since the reset, the project has generally been progressing well,” said Barnes.
“Despite disruption, including work stoppages due to safety concerns and continuing challenges with geology, we’ve been able to recover that time and get us to where we need to be in terms of schedule.
“The reset was about getting Snowy 2.0 moving again by creating a more collaborative relationship with the principal contractor and achieving safe progress. We’ve done both, but the productivity uplift hasn’t been to the degree we needed.”
Some of the most significant sources of cost pressure for Snowy 2.0 since the reset include:
- Costs associated with contractor productivity targets not realised: While the 2023 reset succeeded in substantially increasing productivity, challenges remain. This is because of factors, including delays from TBM stoppages in 2024, work stoppages associated with safety concerns and general productivity underperformance. The reassessment will examine past productivity performance and future productivity requirements.
- Costs of de-risking challenging geology no longer being able to be absorbed:A fourth TBM will be used to de-risk challenging geological conditions through the Long Plain Fault Zone and help protect the project’s schedule. The initial assessment was that the cost to purchase, deploy and operate would be covered within the project costs. Cost pressure, however, mean this is no longer possible.
- Supply chain cost increases: FGJV has identified unforeseen supply chain cost increases to significant, bespoke procurement, including major offshore purchases associated with Snowy 2.0’s underground power station.
Barnes said while the need to reassess Snowy 2.0’s cost was disappointing, the critical importance of the project to electricity users across the network had not changed.
“Snowy 2.0 will be a cornerstone of Australia’s transition to renewable energy, providing more than half of the long-duration storage the grid needs by 2050.
“It will enable the introduction of more wind and solar by acting like a giant battery, storing and delivering enough excess energy to power around 3 million homes for a week,” he said.
“Snowy 2.0 is being built to operate for 150 years. It is as important to Australia now as the original Snowy Scheme was decades ago. Like the original scheme, which still helps underpin electricity reliability today, the benefits of Snowy 2.0 will be felt for generations.”
Snowy Hydro has also announced that TBM Monica – the fourth TBM for the project – is being transported to the Marica work site. The centre cutterhead piece was transported to the site on Wednesday and other components will follow. The cutterhead will be delivered in five pieces and more than 140 loads will be required to transport the TBM.
