The report, produced by the Victorian Energy Policy Centre at Victoria University, and funded by the Bob Brown Foundation, found that batteries would address problems with power storage for less than half the cost of the Battery of the Nation and Marinus Link projects. The report also found battery would have less of an impact on climate emissions.

VPEC director Bruce Mountain said investing in batteries made more sense for the Victorian government. "It was a much, much cheaper option than the Battery of the Nation project," he said.

"We came to the view that it was unlikely that it would be in Victoria's interest to pay for any bit of Marinus because they could do it much more cheaply themselves."

The VPEC study assumed that only about four hours of storage would be needed to safeguard the Victorian system as it moves away from coal fired power.

Hydro Tasmania's BotN plan would provide more than 12 hours of storage through deep storage in pumped hydro.

On Friday the Victorian government announced an $84 million investment in a 300 mega-watt battery which will be one of the world's biggest lithium batteries.

Mr Mountain said the move showed a shift towards battery storage, but key stakeholders in the Marinus Link project disagreed.

TasHydro BotN project director Christopher Gwynne said in all future scenarios there would be a need for short and long-term storage.

A TasNetwork's spokesperson added that the presence of batteries in Victoria would support the operation of the Marinus project.

"Our modelling suggests up to 10,000 MW of batteries could be commissioned in the national energy market before the first stage of Marinus Link is commissioned in 2027/28," the spokesperson said.

VPEC discounting of the need for long term storage was also a point of contention among stakeholders.

Mr Gwynne said the views on long-term storage expressed in the VPEC report were not consistent with the wider energy market.

He said 12-plus hours of storage would be required to transition to 100 per cent renewable energy solutions.

"This is not just Hydro Tasmania's view, this is backed by the independent Australian Energy Market Operator, the Australian Clean Energy Regulator, by state governments and the Australian Government," Mr Gwynne said.

AEMO's 2020 integrated system plans clearly identifies the Marinus Link project as an important cog in the future of the energy market.

It identifies several scenarios in which the progression of the project could be fast tracked and outlines its expected benefits.

"[Marinus Link] would deliver net market benefits and support the energy market transition by accessing necessary large-scale and deep storage in Tasmania to increase network reliability, allowing more efficient generation sharing between Tasmania and Victoria, reducing generation dispatch costs, and adding 540 MW hosting capacity to the attractive wind resource of the Tasmania Midlands," the report reads.

Mr Gwynne said there was significant interest in the BotN project from both sides of the Bass Strait.

"We continue to work closely with our Victorian counterparts to ensure we are all designing a power system for the future that provides the most affordable, secure and reliable energy to all customers in the national electricity market," he said.