Overview
- Snowy Hydro has released new Baringa Partners modelling arguing Snowy 2.0 is needed to limit extreme wholesale price spikes during rare multi‑day wind and solar lulls, with one scenario showing prices could be about A$7,000/MWh lower in a week‑long 2041 lull if Snowy 2.0 exists.
- Chief executive Dennis Barnes has publicly conceded further cost increases are likely and said productivity and safety problems on site make the 2028 completion target uncertain.
- An independent audit due this month and a fresh cost reassessment by construction contractor Webuild are expected to produce updated estimates that could widen the project’s budget gap beyond the current A$12 billion figure.
- Prominent critics, including energy analysts at Victoria University and former industry executives, argue the A$12 billion-plus blowout makes the project uneconomic and say large battery arrays would be more flexible and cost‑effective than pumped hydro.
- Snowy 2.0 would expand the existing Snowy scheme to about 375,000 MWh of storage by pumping water uphill when power is cheap and releasing it to generate on demand, a design proponents say can cover multi‑day 'dark doldrums' and reduce blackout risk once coal plants retire.