Snowy Hydro project completion delayed by up to 2 years

It would be completed by December 2029 at the latest.

Australia’s Snowy Hydro said the completion of the Snowy 2.0 project would be delayed by 12 to 24 months as it reviews the project’s timeline and budget amid likely cost increases.

In a statement, Snowy Hydro said the first power of the project could start between June 2027 to December 2027 at the earliest and June 2028 to December 2028 at the latest.

The commercial operation of all units, meanwhile is expected to start by December 2028 at the earliest and December 2029 at the latest.

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Snowy Hydro identified four categories of factors that contribute to the schedule delays and likely cost increases which include the mobilisation and resourcing impact of the pandemic, and the global supply chain disruption and inflation. 

The number of design elements that need more time to complete due to its complex nature along with a more expensive final design, and the impact of variable site and geological conditions were also amongst the factors.

“This project is critically important to the transition of Australia’s electricity grid and it’s crucial that we are working to a safe, efficient and realistically achievable timeframe to enable orderly planning for all our stakeholders,” said Snowy Hydro CEO Dennis Barnes.

The Snowy 2.0 project which has an estimated capital cost between (A$3.8b) and (A$4.5b) is expected to add 2,000 megawatts (MW) of dispatchable power and around 350,000 MW-hours of large-scale storage.