Snowy Hydro CEO Dennis Barnes said four factors had caused the delays, and likely cost increases: the soft ground that halted tunnelling at Tantangara; some technically complex design elements requiring more time to complete, making the final design now more expensive to construct.
Snowy Hydro is working with principal contractor Future Generation Joint Venture (FGJV) to reset the delivery timeline and budget. The earliest the project could be in full commercial operation is now December 2028, but it could be delayed another year to December 2029. More detail will be given around July.
In December last year, TBM Florence, the third and final TBM launched on the project, stopped work on the headrace tunnel at Tantangara after a surface depression developed above the machine. The TBM was transitioning from soft material into harder rock at the time.
The TBM had tunnelled about 150m and was at a depth of 30m. The depression was around 9m deep.
Barnes said that, despite the setbacks, progress was being made on the project.
“TBM Kirsten has tunnelled 2.9km to reach the underground power station cavern complex and we now have access to this site from both ends. We shortly expect to commence the 6km tailrace tunnel that will feed into Talbingo Reservoir and the excavation of intakes at Talbingo and Tantangara are proceeding very well,” he said.
Snowy 2.0 is Australia’s largest renewable energy project. It will link Tantangara Reservoir (top storage) with Talbingo Reservoir (bottom storage) through 27km of tunnels and a power station with pumping capabilities. This will enable water to be released for energy generation at times of peak demand and pumped back to the top storage when there is excess renewable energy in the system, ready to generate again.
