Snowy Hydro 2.0 proceeds to final investment decision

The Snowy Hydro project will remain publicly owned after the Australian Government took full ownership of Snowy Hydro Limited.

The agreement is expected to strengthen the economy, generate more affordable, reliable electricity and create new jobs.

The deal will also fund congestion-busting infrastructure, with more than $6 billion in Commonwealth funds flowing to New South Wales and Victoria for productive infrastructure investments.

Snowy Hydro will continue to operate as an independent commercial company, providing the National Electricity Market (NEM) with 5500MW of generation capacity including the Snowy Mountains Scheme.

Snowy 2.0 is a proposed expansion of the Snowy Mountains Scheme and will provide an additional generation capacity of 2000MW, enough to power the equivalent of 500,000 homes at peak demand.

The project aims to improve the reliability of renewables, reduce volatility in energy markets and provide other services critical to the security of the NEM.

Earlier this year, the Snowy 2.0 feasibility study found that:

the project is technically feasible – it can be built and Snowy Hydro have a base-case design and detailed construction schedule
the project is financially feasible as it meets Snowy Hydro’s stringent investment hurdles
Snowy Hydro can finance the project itself using retained earnings and borrowing

The Snowy Hydro Board is expected to make a final investment decision on the Snowy 2.0 project in late 2018.