New undersea power cable between Victoria and Tasmania gets green light

Tasmania will provide Victoria with much-needed backup power reserves after the green light was given to a project that could help us avoid more blackouts.

A second undersea power cable between Victoria and Tasmania has been given the green light, potentially providing the mainland with much-needed backup reserves to avoid blackouts on sweltering days.

The development comes as Prime Minister Scott Morrison will today declare the Snowy 2.0 project is “shovel ready” after receiving shareholder approval.

The PM yesterday revealed the Federal Government would provide $56 million to fast-track a second Bass Strait interconnector.

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The new underwater power line would give Victoria access to Tasmania’s surplus large-scale hydropower and other electricity during peak times of demand in summer.

The project has been given the tick of approval in a preliminary business case which has found it would inject $1.6 billion into the two states and create at least 1400 jobs.

Victoria’s backup power supply will be boosted by the project. Picture: Jason Sammon

The interconnector, which will run between the Latrobe Valley and northwest Tasmania, would cost between $1.3 billion and $3.1 billion, depending on the final version.

Mr Morrison said the construction would generate 500 to 1000 jobs in Tasmania and between 900 and 1500 in regional Victoria, with the project expected to be completed by 2025.

“After a summer of blackouts, the interconnector will mean more reliable power at lower prices for homes and businesses in Tasmania and on the mainland,” Mr Morrison said.

About 400MW of available dispatchable power cannot currently be delivered to Victoria from Tasmania, due to constraints in the existing Bass Strait link between the two states.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

About 200,000 Victorian consumers lost power on January 25, partly because units at coal-fired power stations in the Latrobe Valley were unavailable.

Mr Morrison will also announce today the $6.5 billion Snowy hydro project — which will link the two existing Snowy scheme dams — has shareholder approval.

“Snowy 2.0 will inject the energy supply and reliability our electricity market needs, helping cut costs to families and businesses and cut Australia’s emissions,” he said.

Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Energy Mark Butler.

It comes after Mr Morrison yesterday committed to adding an extra $2 billion to the Emissions Reduction Fund.

Labor’s climate spokesman Mark Butler said the Opposition would scrap the fund if it won the election, calling it a “failed policy”.

“Scott Morrison, the prime minister who brought a lump of coal into parliament, has now fully embraced Tony Abbott’s climate policy — a policy that sees taxpayers footing the bill for big polluters,” he said.

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