Tasmania’s Battery of the Nation project will not compete with the Snowy Hydro 2.0 initiative, despite federal Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg singing the praises of the latter but neglecting to mention the former in a recent opinion piece for Fairfax Media.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
That’s according to Hydro Tasmania’s Battery of the Nation project director Chris Gwynne.
In the article, Mr Frydenberg said Snowy 2.0 would “make renewables reliable, reduce versatility in the market and help to bring down rising electricity costs”, describing it as “a game-changing … project”.
But Snowy 2.0 is not the only ambitious pumped hydro project that has been spruiked by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in the past year.
During a visit to Tasmania in 2017, Mr Turnbull said he envisaged Tasmania becoming the “battery of the nation” through an expanded hydroelectricity scheme.
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency has committed up to $2.5 million for the initiative, while Battery of the Nation was also recently nominated for Infrastructure Australia’s Priority List.
Furthermore, both the federal and state governments have committed to pursuing the next stage of a business case for a second Bass Strait interconnector.
Mr Gwynne said both Battery of the Nation and Snowy 2.0 would be needed in the coming decades, as large volumes of coal power are set to be decommissioned.
“It's not a case of competing among ourselves,” he said.
“We're confident both Battery of the Nation and Snowy 2.0 will be needed, and probably much more.”
Mr Gwynne said this would translate to the lowest possible future power prices not just for Tasmanians, but, indeed, for all Australians.
