There can be no transition without transmission, as AEMO and TransGrid keep repeating. But the processes for proposing, assessing and funding the remaining 10,000km of transmission lines must be improved.
Why don’t our leaders learn from past mistakes and undertake full due diligence before announcing mega projects? Maybe then they’d have a better chance of ‘securing Australia’s energy future’.
As proposed, HumeLink has many issues and implausible claims. At such an enormous cost – financial, social and environmental – the pressure is on the Australian Energy Regulator.
The hapless Snowy 2.0 saga is providing a stark case study for the Albanese government on how not to implement its sparkling new Future Made in Australia policy.
If Snowy 2.0 had been required to pay for its incredibly long and expensive plug, it would’ve been even more obvious that its business case was untenable.
It’s time the Australian public – the ultimate shareholders and financiers of Snowy Hydro – are given transparent and honest information about these two hapless projects.
The all-up cost for Snowy 2.0 and its transmission connections is now approaching $25bn – an absurd amount for a 2200MW water battery.
How could TransGrid have got the cost of the HumeLink transmission line so wrong? And what are the ramifications?
With further multi-year delays, skyrocketing costs, billions of dollars’ worth of contractor claims, the 15-month ‘pausing’ (so far) of the tunnel boring machine and mounting environmental damage, the list of problems keeps snowballing.
It’s clear the project will now cost $20bn, far exceeding its benefits, and not be finished till the 2030s. Surely the point has been reached when enough is enough.
Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/author/ted-woodley