Stuck Drill Further Delays $4 Billion Australia Hydro Project
(Bloomberg) -- A collapsed drilling tunnel has compounded delays at Australia’s largest renewables development, the A$5.9 billion ($4.1 billion) Snowy Hydro 2.0 project.
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Engineers are examining a sinkhole in the Kosciuszko National Park that’s entrapped one of the project’s three large tunnel-boring machines, Snowy Hydro Ltd. executives including Chief Executive Officer Dennis Barnes said Monday at a hearing in the nation’s upper house. No details were given on how long operations will be paused or the impact on the project’s timeline.
Snowy Hydro didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.
The pumped hydro project is a key part of Australia’s plan to back up wind and solar generation that will replace coal-fired plants in one of the world’s fastest transitions to a renewable-dominated grid. Originally due for completion in late 2024, the project has been pushed back to December 2027, while costs have blown out from early estimates of about A$2 billion.
Snowy Hydro 2.0 plans to link two existing dams using 27 kilometers (17 miles) of tunnels, with the water generating 2,000 megawatts of power through six underground units. It would provide enough energy storage to power 3 million homes for a week, according to its website.
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