‘Fiasco’: Albo can’t deliver on green promise for Hunter Power Project

A new power plant that Anthony Albanese vowed would receive $700m in extra funding so it could be fuelled by green hydrogen “from the beginning” has not received any of the money.

A new power plant that Anthony Albanese vowed would receive $700 million in extra funding from taxpayers so it could be fuelled by green hydrogen “from the beginning” has not received any of the money and is instead running on diesel.

In 2021, federal government-owned Snowy Hydro Limited was commissioned by the then Morrison Coalition government to deliver a 660 megawatt gas-fired Hunter Power Project near Kurri Kurri in NSW. The goal was for it to open in 2023, ahead of the closure of AGL’s Liddell coal-fired power station.

Labor initially criticised the $600m project as expensive, unnecessary and “a cynical attempt to … continue the climate wars.”

Turbine stacks at the Hunter Power Project. Picture: Snowy Hydro Ltd

But in the lead up to the March 2022 election the ALP changed tune, promising to provide an extra $700m to move “beyond gas to … green hydrogen” so the plant didn’t become “stranded in an increasingly renewable energy system.”

Mr Albanese said the plant would be “run by gas but with 30 per cent green hydrogen from the beginning”. The aim was to be using 50 per cent hydrogen by 2025 and 100 per cent by 2030.

Anthony Albanese pictured at Kurri Kurri. Picture: Supplied

But nearly three years on from the announcement, none of the $700m has been provided, this masthead has confirmed.

Meanwhile the plant recently began commissioning, running solely on diesel.

Under its original environmental approval, the plant was permitted to operate for a maximum of 1150 hours a year, with 10 per cent of that allowed to be on diesel.

But at a Senate Estimates hearing last month, Snowy CEO Dennis Barnes said permission to run on diesel for 1150 hours a year had been sought.

Snowy Hydro chief executive Dennis Barnes speaks before the Senate Estimates in 2023. Picture: Supplied

The plant will use diesel until at least March when gas should become available.

“We’ve not conducted any activity to source hydrogen,” Mr Barnes told the Estimates hearing.

Asked about the timeline for running on 30 per cent hydrogen, Mr Barnes replied: “We are not currently executing that project.”

In a statement to this masthead, Snowy Hydro said its “turbine provider, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, has confirmed as part of an early works study that a 30 per cent hydrogen fuel mix is technically feasible.

“More work would be needed to understand options, including an economic assessment that considers the timing of green hydrogen availability and storage solutions,” Snowy said.

Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen’s office made no on the record comment in response to questions.

Ted O'Brien during Question Time at Parliament House in Canberra in June this year. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Shadow Climate Change and Energy Minister Ted O’Brien labelled Labor’s handling of the plant a “fiasco”.

“The blackouts have begun and here we are, two weeks from 2025 and the project is a mess.

“Their plan has morphed from green hydrogen to diesel.”

Originally published as ‘Fiasco’: Albo can’t deliver on green promise for Hunter Power Project