Tasmania's peak energy body has warned against any reduction in the state's gas power generation capability following an outage of the Basslink interconnector.
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Hydro Tasmania said the Basslink had been put out of action on Sunday by a fault at a converter station.
Tasmanian Minerals, Manufacturing and Energy Council chief executive Ray Mostogl said the incident highlighted the "critical" role the Tamar Valley Power Station and privately-owned Bass Strait gas pipeline could play at times when backup power was required.
"We would be loath to see any moves by the government or Hydro to reduce the role that pipeline has into the state," he said.
"We're keen to make sure that people remember that that was what saved our bacon last time (during the 2016 energy crisis)."
Mr Mostogl, however, didn't believe the state was headed for another energy crisis because key recommendations from the Tasmanian Energy Security Taskforce had been implemented.
The taskforce was launched in the wake of the 2016 energy crisis and recommended the state maintain its gas generation capability as a backup and ensure hydro dam levels were kept high enough to withstand a six month Basslink outage.
"You've got gas, you've got a reasonable water level in the dams and you've got the coming winter season in the state," Mr Mostogl said.
"So those three things combine to give a level of comfort, which is quite different to where we were in 2016."
Hydro Tasmania confirmed on Monday afternoon that work was still underway to resolve the issues with the Basslink converter station and said its statement about the matter at the weekend remained current.
"Basslink Pty Ltd have advised this is not a cable fault and their engineering team is focussed on diagnosis, rectification and return to service," Hydro Tasmania said on Sunday.
"Hydro storages are approximately 33 per cent full at the start of winter, which is very healthy and there is no energy security concern."
Mr Mostogl said it was "disappointing" the Basslink had been put out of action, however, the Tasmanian Minerals, Manufacturing and Energy Council "certainly appreciate being informed as properly as we have" by Hydro Tasmania.
"The bottom line is we're comfortable where things are at," Mr Mostogl said.
Lachlan Bennett
Lachlan Bennett is a journalist based in Burnie with an interest in politics, primary industries, transportation, tourism and the West Coast.
Lachlan Bennett is a journalist based in Burnie with an interest in politics, primary industries, transportation, tourism and the West Coast.
