News

SNOWY 2.0 UPDATE

18/07/2024

The Snowy Delivery team has completed 570,000 cubic metres of excavation of the Talbingo intake. The intake is where water will exit and enter the tailrace tunnel, connecting the lower Talbingo reservoir to the underground power station
Excavation of the Marica surge shaft has reached 95 metres. Mechanical excavation including rock breakers and excavators continues, with drill and blast methods also being used. Once complete, the 28 metre-wide and 250 metre-deep surge shaft will be used for water storage and pressure relief when the power station starts up, and to absorb the momentum. The Marica surge shaft will be one of the largest shafts of its type in the world
Excavation of the gate shaft at Tantangara is complete, with drill and blast work to excavate the transition tunnels linking it and the intake well advanced. The gate shaft is used to stop and start the flow of water into the headrace tunnel and power station for maintenance purposes or in the case of an emergency

Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs)

Florence

Florence is the TBM excavating the 16 kilometre headrace tunnel, which will connect the underground power station to the upper Tantangara reservoir

Following a seven-week operation to use ultra high pressure water jetting to remove very hard rock preventing the TBM from progressing, TBM Florence restarted excavation on Thursday 11 July

The Snowy delivery team expects highly variable ground conditions to continue ahead of TBM Florence, which will mean progress will continue to vary, particularly as the TBM navigates the curve leading to the main tunnel alignment

Lady Eileen Hudson

TBM Lady Eileen Hudson, which has completed the 2.8 kilometre main access tunnel to the power station, is now excavating the 6 kilometre tailrace tunnel, which will connect the underground power station to the lower Talbingo reservoir

The machine is progressing well and is approximately 3.0 kilometres into the tailrace tunnel

A conveyor belt extension and service modifications have recently been carried out so excavations to join the tailrace tunnel with the Talbingo intake excavation can commence

Kirsten

Kirsten is the TBM excavating the 1.6km Inclined Pressure Shaft (IPS – connecting the underground power station to the headrace tunnel that leads to the upper Tantangara reservoir), having already completed the 2.9km emergency, cable and ventilation tunnel

TBM Kirsten has installed 14 trial tunnel lining rings in the IPS using locally manufactured concrete segments specifically designed for the high water pressures that will be experienced in the IPS

Tunnelling of the IPS will be a pioneering engineering challenge, with the shaft’s incline reaching a steep 47 percent

News

SNOWY 2.0 PROJECT UPDATE – APRIL 2024

01/05/2024

Snowy 2.0 is a major pumped-hydro expansion of the Snowy Scheme and at Marica, high in the Snowy Mountains, a very wide and deep surge shaft connecting to the Snowy 2.0 headrace tunnel is being built.

The surge shaft has two key purposes for the operation of a hydro power station: as a water storage and vacuum relief when the power station starts up, and to absorb the momentum of water movement within the headrace when the power station is shut down.

The Marica surge shaft is about 28 metres in diameter and is currently over 80 metres deep.

During its construction the walls of the shaft are supported temporarily by rock bolts and shotcrete and once it is excavated to its full depth of 250 metres, a permanent concrete lining will be installed from the bottom up.

We are excavating the shaft with a number of excavation methods, including using 36-tonne excavators that place loads of material into kibbles. This material is lifted out and dropped into a dump truck.

An integrated work platform and personnel hoist is in the final stages of commissioning to provide worker access now the shaft is becoming very deep.

In the latest project update, civil engineer and Snowy 2.0 project manager, Richard Clarke, details the significant work undertaken constructing Marica Trail to create a new permanent access road into the surge shaft site.

Marica Trail provides safe, all weather access for traffic, including heavy vehicles.

Building in steep terrain was challenging and required specialised rope access workers to install ground support for safety and stability.

The road has been very carefully constructed in a tight envelope. It’s 6.5 km long, with an elevation change of about 320 metres from top to bottom and multiple water crossings have been created, including over the Eucumbene River.

Over at Tantangara, drill and blast excavation to join the intake and gate shaft is underway from both structures. The transition from the intake changes shape as it is excavated to become the connection tunnel to the gate shaft.

At the same time, we have started drilling and blasting from the gate shaft to merge into the headrace tunnel alignment excavated by TBM Florence.

When completed, water will enter the headrace tunnel from the intake, on its way to the power station.

Snowy 2.0 is being engineered to deliver clean and reliable energy storage and generation for the next 150 years. The target date for commercial operation of all units is December 2028, with first power expected in the second half of 2027.

Update – Thursday 2 May

Reports today that tunnel boring machine (TBM) Florence has stopped tunnelling are incorrect.

TBM Florence remains fully operational and is now more than 800 metres into excavation of the Snowy 2.0 headrace tunnel at Tantangara. The TBM has operated successfully since its restart on 8 December 2023 and has moved through identified soft ground into hard rock.

The total distance tunnelled by all three Snowy 2.0 TBMs across the pumped-hydro renewable energy project is approximately nine kilometres.

As provided in evidence at two recent Senate Estimates hearings, Snowy Hydro has been investigating options to de-risk the headrace tunnel construction by excavating from the other end. This work remains ongoing.

News

SNOWY 2.0 PROJECT UPDATE – SEPTEMBER 2023

05/10/2023

Following the recent announcement of the Snowy 2.0 project reset, the Snowy Hydro and Future Generation contractor teams are now a single team, working in close collaboration to achieve full commercial operation by December 2028.

The Snowy 2.0 Project Team is focused on excellent environmental outcomes while maintaining all-important safety principles. Safety is the number one priority for Snowy Hydro and core to the company’s values. High expectations for the management of all safety risks extend across the Snowy 2.0 project, without compromise.

Snowy 2.0 is critical to Australia’s transition to a low-carbon economy and when complete it will have broad-scale environmental benefits. Consistent with its responsible operation of the Snowy Scheme in Kosciuszko National Park for almost 70 years, Snowy Hydro is equally committed to minimising potential impacts from Snowy 2.0.

SAFETY PERFORMANCE

– As at September 2023, the project’s 12-month rolling TRIFR (Total Reportable Injury Frequency Rate) is 2.97, below the target of 4.0.**
– There has been a reduction in recordable and serious incidents on the project, with a focus on planning and a coordinated approach to safety management.
– Snowy 2.0 works closely with Comcare and SafeWork NSW and will continue to incorporate lessons learned and findings from the regulator into operational practices.
**Calculated per million hours worked. Total hours worked to end September 2023: >17.7 million.

Construction of Snowy 2.0 will temporarily impact less than 0.1% of the park with any short-term unavoidable impacts rehabilitated throughout the project, in accordance with environmental project approvals. This includes around $100 million provided by Snowy Hydro to the offsets program for Kosciuszko National Park. Once operational, Snowy 2.0’s footprint within the park will be only 0.01%.

ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE

– 4 independent audits of the Snowy 2.0 project undertaken since project commencement.
– 1,500 hours spent annually to proactively monitor the 163 biodiversity sites.
– More than 200 kilograms of native seed collected over three years for rehabilitation activities.
– 27 heritage site excavations and more than 35,00 indigenous artefacts salvaged and currently being documented, adding to the history of the Snowy Mountains Indigenous people.

In this month’s update from the main worksite at Lobs Hole, Project Integration Manager Paul Smith recaps progress to date with over 40 per cent of Snowy 2.0 now complete, including:

Excavation of the 2.85 kilometre main access tunnel, lined with almost 13,000 locally manufactured concrete segments.
Excavation of the 2.9 kilometre emergency, cable and ventilation tunnel.
Major upgrade of Ravine Road, the steep and winding 15 kilometre access road into Lobs Hole.
Infrastructure to support construction including the main yard workshops, worker campsites and more than 50 kilometres of access roads across three main worksites at Lobs Hole, Marica and Tantangara.

Excavation is underway of the huge 250 metre-long underground power station cavern and the tailrace tunnel, and TBM Kirsten is being modified to excavate the world-leading inclined pressure shaft. Drill and blast to create 11 cross passages and construction tunnels continues.

Above ground, there is plenty of activity across all sites. Lobs Hole Surface Works Project Manager Steve Lee helps ensure the Snowy 2.0 project is delivered in a safe and timely way, and to the quality standards and requirements of Snowy Hydro.

Surface works refers to a broad mix of activity such as haulage of spoil, maintenance of site roads, environmental controls, main yard area activity, office facilities and directional drilling, as well as the Talbingo intake build.

Latest progress on site includes Stage 2 earthworks with a recent blast covering an area of 4,500 square metres. About 10,000 cubic metres of material is being removed as the excavation of the 104-metre-high intake continues.

Snowy 2.0 is the largest renewable energy project under construction in Australia and will provide crucial deep storage central to Australia’s renewable transition. When complete, Snowy 2.0 will deliver 2,200 megawatts of dispatchable generation.

News

SNOWY 2.0 PROJECT UPDATE – MAY 2023

30/05/2023

May was a milestone month for the Snowy 2.0 team with the completion of the emergency, cable and ventilation tunnel, or ECVT – another vital step in the construction of Snowy Hydro’s new pumped-hydro expansion megaproject.

Snowy 2.0 senior project manager Rodd Brinkmann explains the next stage of the project from his base at Lobs Hole, as preparation for excavation for the underground power station cavern gets underway.

The ECVT is a 2.93 kilometre tunnel that runs adjacent to the main access tunnel and provides alternate access to the site of the underground power station. Tunnel boring machine (TBM) Kirsten recently completed excavation of the ECVT and will soon start tunnelling the inclined pressure shaft. This very steep shaft links to the headrace tunnel from Tantangara Reservoir.

TBM Kirsten will need to undergo modifications to excavate the 25-degree incline, including installation of a screw conveyor to extract excavated rock from the cutterhead to a sandwich conveyor system. With such a steep incline, construction of the 1.45km shaft with its concrete segment-lined tunnel, will be a world first.

In the main access tunnel, or MAT, construction of cross passages and construction access tunnels is well underway with 850 metres of drill and blast tunnel excavation completed. Of the five cross passages linking the MAT and the ECVT, two are fully excavated and waiting on breakthrough into the ECVT. Key construction tunnels are also being excavated to provide access to the machine hall, transformer hall and the top of the tailrace surge shaft.

Workers have reached the main cavern areas from both ends and will soon commence excavation and support of the cavern crowns or ceilings of the power station halls. The excavation sequence of the cavern crowns is critical, as the in situ rock mass will relax and move inwards as the excavated void increases. These movements will be closely monitored during the process. Geotechnical drilling and plate load tests will measure and confirm the characteristics of the rock geology around the power station.

Dynamic 3D models of the power station caverns are also being used. 3D models are created using digital engineering to transform 2D design drawings and are displayed in the state-of-the-art immersive theatre at Snowy Hydro’s Discovery Centre in Cooma, where Snowy 2.0 engineers can collaborate with power station design experts from around the world. Once construction is complete, the detailed 3D models will be a valuable tool for asset maintenance.

With so much activity in the tunnels, the current Snowy 2.0 underground workforce will increase by another 200 people in the coming months.

News

SNOWY 2.0 PROJECT UPDATE – APRIL 2023

09/05/2023

In our April update of the Snowy 2.0 pumped-hydro project, Snowy Hydro CEO Dennis Barnes pays tribute to Alan Machon, who tragically died in a road accident. Alan was a member of the Future Generation team working to deliver Snowy 2.0.

Out onsite, Snowy 2.0 Integration Manager, Paul Smith, joins us from the recently completed Ravine Road, we meet the captain of the Lobs Hole Emergency Response Team and we stop by the Talbingo adit to check on progress of TBM Lady Eileen Hudson’s reassembly in readiness for her second major tunnelling task.

The construction of Ravine Road was one of the first projects undertaken for Snowy 2.0. Originally little more than a dirt track, the main access into the Lobs Hole site has been transformed to provide safe all-weather access for project trucks and light vehicles.

The steep, winding 15-kilometre road is now two lanes wide and in March 2023 it was fully sealed with line marking, snow poles and reflective markers installed to help guide road users in low visibility conditions. With an 850-metre elevation difference from top to bottom, the upper section of Ravine Road is above the snow line.

Areas disturbed during construction are being reinstated and the rehabilitation process is underway. When the Snowy 2.0 project is complete, the general public will be able to use Ravine Road to access a popular camping area once restricted to 4WD vehicles.

At the Talbingo adit, tunnel boring machine Lady Eileen Hudson is being reassembled in preparation for excavation of the tailrace tunnel. New components including the cutterhead and tailskin will soon be lifted into the TBM cradle to be attached to the shields and main drive. After completing the excavation of the main access tunnel, the TBM gantries were removed using self-propelled mobile transporters and will be attached to the machine so it can begin excavating the six-kilometre tunnel. The vertical conveyor belt stacker has been assembled, construction of the water treatment plant is progressing and the grout plant will soon be commissioned.

Snowy 2.0 emergency response teams, or ERTs, regularly conduct training to keep the onsite workforce safe and to prepare for possible emergencies such as vehicle rescues and bushfires.

Future Generation’s Lobs Hole ERT captain, Drew Butters, is a Snowy Mountains local who has worked on the project for three years. He has had a life-long association with emergency response and fire fighting in the Rural Fire Service and is currently the Adaminaby RFS captain.

ERTs are trained to deal with bushfires, general firefighting, emergency response and rescue. Emergency Response Teams have a small crew with experienced full-time members, plus a number of volunteers at each work site.

News

SNOWY 2.0 – PROJECT UPDATE

03/05/2023

Snowy Hydro’s management team is working towards resetting the delivery timeline and budget for the Snowy 2.0 project with its principal contractor, Future Generation Joint Venture (FGJV), as part of an ongoing project review.

The reset will ensure this critically important clean energy infrastructure project is placed on a robust and sustainable footing for FGJV to progress the schedule in a realistic and productive manner.

While significant progress has been achieved by FGJV on Snowy 2.0, there are delays to Snowy 2.0’s contracted schedule and likely cost impacts beyond the contingency allowed, which remain under review by Snowy Hydro.

There are four broad categories of factors contributing to schedule delays and likely cost increases:

the mobilisation and resourcing implications of the COVID-19 pandemic;
the effect of global supply chain disruption and inflation impacting the cost and availability of a skilled workforce, materials, and shipping;
a number of design elements requiring more time to complete due to their technically complex nature, with the final design now being more expensive to construct; and
the impact of variable site and geological conditions, with the most impactful being the soft ground encountered that is delaying tunnel boring machine (TBM) Florence’s progress at Tantangara.

Snowy Hydro anticipates that the timeline for full commercial operation is delayed by a further 12-24 months from the current publicly released dates:

Milestone	Earliest	Latest
First Power	June 2027 – December 2027	June 2028 – December 2028
Commercial operation of all units	December 2028	December 2029

Snowy Hydro expects more detail on the budget implications of the project reset around July 2023, and this will be clearly communicated with key project stakeholders.

Snowy Hydro CEO Dennis Barnes said:

“Since joining Snowy Hydro earlier this year I have focused on ensuring our major projects are placed on a realistic and sustainable footing, while maintaining construction progress.

“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. I am committed to being transparent about our progress and how we are proactively managing the inevitable issues and challenges that arise in a complex project like this.

“While many other major infrastructure projects have been impacted by the same challenges, Snowy 2.0 continues to make positive progress.

“Snowy 2.0 is providing significant employment and economic benefits both regionally and domestically. There are currently over 2,400 people employed on the project and thousands more jobs generated indirectly through supply chains and support services.

“TBM Kirsten has tunnelled 2.9 km to reach the underground power station cavern complex and we now have access to this site from both ends. We shortly expect to commence the 6km tailrace tunnel that will feed into Talbingo Reservoir and the excavation of intakes at Talbingo and Tantangara are proceeding very well.”

News

SNOWY 2.0 RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECT – FIND OUT MORE!

06/02/2023

Snowy 2.0, a huge pumped-hydro expansion of the mighty Snowy Scheme, is at the heart of Australia’s transition to a renewable energy future and this is your chance to find out more about the project at local information sessions.

Snowy Hydro will host the Snowy 2.0 community information sessions starting from Thursday 9 February, providing locals with opportunities to be updated, ask questions and provide feedback.

Hear from the Snowy 2.0 project team about:

Current project activities and news;
Traffic management and road safety initiatives;
Accommodation, recreation access and other local issues;
Jobs and training on Snowy 2.0.

New Snowy Hydro CEO Dennis Barnes said construction of Snowy 2.0 was providing significant economic and social benefits right across the region.

“There are 2,200 people employed on the project and hundreds of millions of dollars are being invested locally, so it continues to be a very exciting time for communities throughout the Snowy Mountains,” Mr Barnes said. “I encourage everyone to come along to one of our sessions to hear the latest about Snowy 2.0, discuss any local concerns that you may have and answer your questions.”

Hosted by Snowy Hydro, the sessions will be attended by representatives from Future Generation Joint Venture, our Snowy 2.0 contractor building Snowy 2.0.

Talbingo and Tumbarumba will be drop-in sessions, with the chance to speak one-on-one with project team members, while there will be a formal presentation followed by community Q&As in Tumut, Cooma and Adaminaby.

Community information sessions schedule:

Thursday 9 February Talbingo shops 11.00am-2.00pm
Thursday 9 February Club Tumut 6.00pm-7.30pm
Friday 10 February Near Tumbarumba IGA, The Parade 11.00am-2.00pm
Tuesday 28 February Cooma Ex-Services Club 6.00pm-7.30pm
Wednesday 1 March Adaminaby Bowling Club 6.00pm-7.30pm