HYDROELECTRIC POWER PLANTS – AUSTRALIA

Snowy 2.0 buried in a wage storm

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 10-Sep-25

The Australian Workers Union has struck a new enterprise agreement with Snowy 2.0 contractor Webuild that will boost the wages of tunnel workers. The ‘fly-in, fly-out’ workers will receive an upfront pay rise of $6,000 over a six-week roster cycle, plus an additional wage increase of 2.25 per cent every six months for four years; this will boost their annual wage to about $300,000. The wage deal also includes a 62 per cent increase in the tunnel workers’ hourly productivity allowance. The AWU’s NSW secretary Tony Callinan has conceded that the new agreement will result in a significant increase in Snowy 2.0’s labour costs. The renewable energy project is already well over budget and behind schedule.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION, WEBUILD

PM pumps hydro before coal power

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Original article by Phillip Coorey, Ben Potter
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 27-Feb-19

Power industry executives have questioned the merits of the Snowy Hydro expansion program, arguing that it may deter alternative investment in new power generation capacity before Snowy 2.0 is completed. Some have also suggested that a nuclear power station or up to six coal-fired power stations could have been built for the same cost as the Snowy upgrade, which is slated to be between $3.8bn and $4.5bn in total. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has indicated that the federal government may underwrite a pumped hydro project in Tasmania.

CORPORATES
SNOWY HYDRO LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, SUNSET POWER INTERNATIONAL, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, ENERGYAUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, TRANSGRID, AUSNET SERVICES LIMITED – ASX AST, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

PM to give Snowy 2.0 a $1.4b green light

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 26-Feb-19

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced that the federal government will contribute $1.38bn to the cost of the Snowy Hydro expansion project. Morrison says the government has reviewed the business case, which shows that the pumped hydro project is viable. Snowy Hydro Limited, which is owned by the federal government, will finance the balance of the project’s cost. Morrison has also committed the government to investing $56m in the Marinus Link project to build a second electricity interconnector between Tasmania and Victoria.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, SNOWY HYDRO LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

Barnaby’s coal plan powers up detractors

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Original article by Ean Higgins
The Australian – Page: 5 : 16-Oct-18

National Party MP Keith Pitt has questioned the viability of the federal government’s Snowy Hydro expansion plan. He argues that investing in coal-fired power stations may be a better option if Snowy 2.0’s cost per megawatt hour is very high. The issue of energy policy has come under renewed scrutiny after former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce advocated coal-fired power in preference to Snowy 2.0. However, the University of Queensland’s Professor Tor Hundloe says pumped hydro is much more cost-effective than coal-fired power generation.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND

Snowy 2.0 a risk to threatened fauna

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Original article by Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 2 : 26-Jul-18

An environmental impact statement has raised concern that the Federal Government’s proposed expansion of the Snowy Hydro scheme could adversely affect the habitat of some endangered species. These include the smoky mouse, the gang-gang cockatoo and the eastern pygmy possum. The EIS notes that measures are being taken to minimise the impact that exploratory work for the Snowy 2.0 project is having on the habitats of at-risk species.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PLANNING AND ENVIRONMENT. OFFICE OF ENVIRONMENT AND HERITAGE, NEW SOUTH WALES. NATIONAL PARKS AND WILDLIFE SERVICE

Snowy 2.0 ideal option, says CEO

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 2-Feb-18

Modelling conducted by Marsden Jacob Associates indicates that the Snowy 2.0 project will generate a return of eight per cent, according to Snowy Hydro CEO Paul Broad. The 2,000 megawatt pumped hydro project has been slated as costing up to $A4.5 billion. Broad also says MJA found that Snowy 2.0 was the "least cost" option in terms of providing secure and reliable electricity in the future, and that the federal government’s National Energy Guarantee only serves to strengthen the argument for the expansion of the Snowy hydro-electric scheme.

CORPORATES
SNOWY HYDRO LIMITED, MARSDEN JACOB ASSOCIATES PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, ENERGYAUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. ENERGY SECURITY BOARD

Drums beat on $6b Snowy Hydro sale

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Original article by Ben Potter, Lucille Keen, Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 24-Aug-16

The Federal Goverment has downplayed media reports which suggested that it is considering the privatisation of Snowy Hydro as part of its strategy to balance the Budget. Snowy Hydro is estimated to be worth around $A6bn, which would value the Federal Government’s 13 per cent stake about about $A800m. The Government had rejected the National Commission of Audit’s 2014 recommendation to privatise Snowy Hydro, while a previous sale proposal in 2006 caused disunity within the Coalition.

CORPORATES
SNOWY HYDRO LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, AUSTRALIA. NATIONAL COMMISSION OF AUDIT, NEW SOUTH WALES. THE TREASURY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA