SYDNEY — Australia’s biggest renewable energy project, the Snowy 2.0 pumped hydro scheme, could cost up to A$25 billion — about 12 times its original price — and will not be fully running until late 2029, a long-awaited review released Thursday found, ABC News and The Guardian reported.
Government-owned Snowy Hydro set a target cost of about A$22 billion, with A$3 billion more allowed if needed. The project was announced by then-Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in 2017 as a A$2 billion scheme due to run by 2021; a 2023 reset put it at about A$12 billion, with first power in late 2027.
Chief executive Dennis Barnes said he was “incredibly disappointed” by the costs but that the project was in its “strongest position yet.” “This job is 80 per cent people costs, we’ve got 5,000 people on the job now,” he told ABC News. He could not rule out further blowouts.
The review found 65% of machine tunnelling and 90% of cavern excavation are complete. The tunnel boring machine Florence, which was stuck for nearly a year after hitting soft ground in 2023, is still not halfway through its 15-kilometer tunnel, The Guardian reported.
Snowy 2.0 will link two reservoirs through about 27 kilometers of tunnels to an underground power station, storing surplus wind and solar power. With 2,200 megawatts of capacity, it is meant to act as a giant battery as Australia moves away from fossil fuels. The Albanese government is expected to announce new oversight and financing arrangements in the coming weeks.
Sources: ABC News, The Guardian
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