Snowy 2.0 cost spirals to $22bn as chief admits major errors

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 26 Oct, 10:19 · Archive

The chief executive of Snowy Hydro has admitted major errors as the cost of the Snowy 2.0 project has ballooned from $2 billion to $22.2 billion.

Snowy Hydro chief executive Dennis Barnes has admitted major errors in the Snowy 2.0 project during a fiery Senate hearing on Monday. The revised target cost has jumped to $22.2 billion, with an allowance for a $25 billion scenario, and the project is now due to be fully commissioned in late 2029. Senators clashed over how a project once pitched at $2 billion had spiralled so dramatically.

Snowy 2.0 is a pumped hydro expansion of the Snowy Scheme designed to store surplus electricity by moving water uphill and then releasing that power back into the grid when demand is high. It is being built in the Snowy Mountains in southern NSW, linking the Tantangara and Talbingo dams through a network of underground tunnels and a new power station. The project is intended to act like a giant battery for the electricity system, helping store renewable energy.

Mr Barnes told the committee the result was 'extremely disappointing' and laid much of the blame on how the project was originally set up, arguing it had been approved with major design problems still unresolved. He said 'no decisions were ever made on the $2 billion headline figure' and that 'events to date show that it was an infeasible figure'. When pressed on the blowout, he pointed to what he called 'design immaturity' at the final investment decision, but insisted the project still has to be finished.

How it is being reported

• Snowy 2.0 cost blowout explodes in Senate as Dennis Barnes defends project and concedes major errorsThe boss of Snowy Hydro has admitted “we got it wrong” after a bruising Senate hearing over the spiralling cost of the mammoth project.The West Australian · 26 Oct, 09:48
• Snowy 2.0 cost blowout explodes in Senate as Dennis Barnes defends project and concedes major errorsThe boss of Snowy Hydro has admitted “we got it wrong” after a bruising Senate hearing over the spiralling cost of the mammoth project.Perth Now · 26 Oct, 09:47

In this story: Dennis Barnes · Snowy Hydro · Snowy Mountains · New South Wales · Tantangara · Talbingo

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