Inside Snowy 2.0: getting a $12b mega-project back on track

The Florence tunnel boring machine will need to pick up the pace to 12-15 metres a day to stay on target as the scheme pursues Australia’s renewables dream.

Angela Macdonald-SmithSenior resources writer

Feb 22, 2024 – 5.00pm

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Seven hundred and fifty metres deep in the bowels of the Snowy Mountains, Snowy Hydro CEO Dennis Barnes has been able to breathe a sigh of relief.

The top section of a massive underground cavern that should in a year’s time be big enough to accommodate a 22-storey building has taken shape, and in contrast to the problems that famously hobbled Florence, the tunnel boring machine, in late 2022, this time the rock conditions are spot-on.

Angela Macdonald-Smith writes on the resources industry with a focus on energy, including gas, oil, electricity and renewables.