PM gets pumped at hydro scheme

IN ANOTHER realm Snowy 2.0 could be Australia’s next big waterpark: 27km of tunnels with water pumping up and down, all located 700m underground.

But rather than elicit squeals of excitement from punters, the renewable energy project is designed to create reliable electricity

Prime Minister Scott Morrison (right) sported a “Let’s Get Pumped” cap that could easily pass at a waterpark – but in reality he was given it as he visited one of Snowy Hydro’s stations in the NSW town of Talbingo.

He was flanked by Finance Minister Mathias Cormann, Energy Minister Angus Taylor and Environment Minister Melissa Price to announce the Commonwealth will stump up $1.38 billion for the $4.5 billion project. The Coalition quartet flew by helicopter to the remote Snowy Hydro site as company boss Paul Broad showed them the rolling bushland area where the tunnels will be built.

There was a sense of melancholy from Mr Taylor, who said he had stood in the same spot more than 40 years ago alongside his grandfather Sir William Hudson, the chief engineer for the original Snowy scheme.

The expanded pumped hydro scheme will create enough electricity to power 500,000 homes once complete in 2024, and will transform the neighbouring sleepy town of Tumut. Tumut’s population of 300 is expected to soar in response to thousands of jobs. Snowy 2.0 will produce 2000MW of energy that Mr Morrison says can firm the east coast’s power supply and provide reliable generation.

“If you want to transition over time to a renewable future for energy, you cannot do it without stations like this,” he said.

So far it’s been the government’s environment week.

With multiple independent candidates popping up to go head to head with government MPs over climate policy at the next election, the Coalition is attempting to flex its environmental muscles.

The Prime Minister on Monday announced a $2 billion top up over the next decade to the Emissions Reduction Fund – rebranded as the Climate Solutions Fund – and $56 million for another transmission link between Tasmania and the mainland. Mr Morrison spruiked the Snowy Hydro project as being more viable than coal.

“Lower emissions, lower prices and reliability: that’s what I’m looking for,” he said.