Former Snowy Hydro boss Paul Broad accuses Canberra of misleading Australians

Snowy Hydro chief Dennis Barnes says the first power from the project won’t happen until mid to late 2029, while his predecessor says Canberra has misled the country about decarbonisation.

Electricity transmission projects worth more than $10bn face a series of obstacles to be built on time and threaten the transition from coal-powered electricity generation to renewables, former Snowy Hydro boss Paul Broad says.

Snowy Hydro chief executive Dennis Barnes on Wednesday revealed that first power from the mega pumped-hydro project was now expected between June and December 2029 at the latest, prompting fresh fears of supply shortfalls, price surges and blackouts.

Former Snowy Hydro boss Paul Broad.

Snowy Hydro chief executive Dennis Barnes.

Mr Broad – who sensationally quit last year after falling out with Mr Bowen over the NSW Kurri Kurri gas plant – said the nation’s transition to renewables would take 80 years, and he accused federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen of misleading Australians about the complexity of decarbonisation.

Mr Broad told The Australian that transmission was a major part of the “energy puzzle” but not enough would be in place by 2030 to allow Australia to hit a target of tripling the current level of renewables to 82 per cent by the end of the decade.

“I can say that the chances of de-risking this market and replacing it with renewables through transmission is difficult. We won’t be in a better position by 2030 than what we’re in right now,” Mr Broad said.

Officials say five major projects covering 10,000km to connect up new renewables supplies need to be built “as urgently as possible” as fears grow that new supplies may be stranded if new developments are not delivered on time.

Rio Tinto chief executive Jakob Stausholm also weighed into the debate and said the 2030 renewable energy target for Australia was challenging.

Rio Tinto chief executive Jakob Stausholm. Picture: Bloomberg

“We’re feeling the pressure because we’ve set a target of reducing our scope 1 and 2 by 50 per cent by 2030. And the way I look at it, 2030 is tomorrow,” Mr Stausholm said after the mining giant’s annual general meeting on Thursday.

“It takes a long time from getting the land, getting cultural clearance and to implement a project in renewable energy.

“I think we actually have quite an obligation as a big company in Australia to try to contribute to Australia’s (emission) reduction as well. I think the focus should be on how can we deliver that.”

Construction work on the Snowy Hydro 2.0 project. Picture: Webuild

Labor has set a goal of tripling renewables capacity to 82 per cent by 2030 but authorities are worried a lack of power supply is being built to back-up solar and wind, raising the risks of electricity shortages as coal-fired plants shut after a half century of operations.

Transgrid is developing three major transmission projects – EnergyConnect which will move energy through NSW, South Australia and Victoria, the HumeLink connecting Snowy Hydro’s 2.0 hydro expansion to the network, and the southern transmission link to Melbourne called VNI West later this decade.

The process of delivering major transmission projects through rural areas and navigating landowner issues is widely expected to take longer than official timelines, constraining the volumes of clean energy that may be delivered to users in the market.

Some 150 gigawatts of energy supplies, nearly triple the current generation and storage capacity of the Australian market, has been proposed by companies and investors by 2032. It would involve large-scale solar and wind backed up by battery storage accounting for 88 per cent of the project pipeline.

Nearly two thirds of all coal-fired electricity capacity will be shut down by 2030, according to forecasts by the Australian Energy Market Operator.

Renewable developers and network operators are worried a pipeline of power generation and clean energy supplies faces delays or gridlock unless major electricity transmission projects are delivered across the national electricity system.