by Steve Hunter
By Jo Nova
Snowy 2.0 will stand as a monument to organized crime
Big Government is the ultimate racket. The costs have been hidden, the FOIs denied, the Unions are raking in the cash, and a foreign corporation is soaking in easy money. And in the end, the stored power is likely to be a horrible $200/MWh*, making it 6 times the price of brown coal plant power.
Malcolm Turnbull promised us it would cost $2b and take four years, and here we are, nine years later, with just $40 billion and three more years to go….
There is something in this project for every grifter. The incompetent management delays have added $8b in interest during construction. That will keep the Bankers happy. There are 3,000 extra workers nobody thought we’d need and they earn $250,000 each on average. And there is now $12 billion in interconnector high-voltage line costs. Like all “renewable” projects, the fuel is free but the cost to collect and distribute it burns like a magnesium flare.
Snowy Hydro 2.0 cost spirals to $42bn sparking calls for Royal Commission
By Tansy Harcourt, The Australian
The true cost of Snowy Hydro 2.0 has spiralled to $42bn and should be the subject of a Royal Commission into “one of the biggest disasters” in Australian infrastructure, economist Bruce Mountain and energy executive Ted Woodley said.
Major contractors on Australia’s flagship renewable energy project are simultaneously reaping profits at taxpayers’ expense under arrangements that guarantee payment irrespective of performance, while a series of prime ministers have maintained a wall of secrecy around the project.
The cost is now $1,500 per man, woman and child in the country. It’s like the government demanded every family of four pay $6,000 for something that doesn’t generate electricity, it just stores what wind and solar power make at the wrong time, so we can convert a useless product into something less useless.
This is pure subsidy money to wind and solar power. Each renewable project should be charged the fees to cover this, then see what the hourly charge for unreliable power really is.
Who is making money from Snowy?
Italian construction giant Webuild is in charge of the project and booked €4bn of revenue from Australia last year alone (a figure that included other projects). Australia is now a close-second in terms of revenue for Webuild behind Italy, and is its biggest pipeline going forward.
Webuild operates under a controversial cost-plus margin contract. Based on industry standards, that probably means it gets $1.20 for every $1 it spends, creating a perverse incentive to go big.
“That’s a wonderful business to have, isn’t it?” said a former insider.
One of Webuild’s delays was so that they could get worker accommodation built in Italy and sent to Australia. Because the Australian economy is not built around remote mining camps, right?
From the Herald Sun — Bruce Mountain is renewable fan, and even he hates it:
Snowy ‘Too Big to Fail’
Or we could have built four nuclear plants, South Korean style, and got 5GW of actual generation, with production of 40TWh a year. That’s 100 times as much energy, available when we need it. The big downside of course is that it’s a horror show for renewable investors and all the daft politicians who said wind and solar were “cheap”.
There are, of course, excellent reasons for secrecy
Responsible Members of Parliament clearly have a duty to keep these obscene costs a secret from taxpayers, adversaries, and anyone with a calculator. This isn’t about dodging accountability —it’s about protecting Australians from the harmful effects of understanding the astronomical numbers. Clearly releasing the truth suddenly would demoralize the nation, increasing rates of depression and suicide if people knew how crooked and inept our government really is. This is secrecy in the interests of public mental health.
Then there is the matter of commercial sensitivity. We don’t want foreign infrastructure firms to know how easy it is to screw absurd amounts of money out of Australia. They will all raise their quotes. If word got out that budgets are flexible, deadlines optional, and overruns practically a revenue stream, every bidder would adjust accordingly. Australia will never get a reasonable tender again.
Naturally national security is also at stake. If adversaries learned how effectively a single project can inflate costs and strain the grid, they might attempt to replicate the model. Why sabotage infrastructure when you can simply commission it?
Though in fairness, it’s hard to imagine how foreign spies could make the situation worse than the Labor party already has.
h/t , David Maddison and David E
*kWh fixed to MWh!
We are a Banana Republic. It’s no longer just a warning.
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Don’t panic until you really have to. Go back to the Sydney Opera House.
As I remember, planned in 1958 to cost 3 million pounds over 5 years, they initiated the “Opera House Lottery” to pay for it. (now the mega lottery).
The unions saw that whilever the job lasted, the lottery would pay their wages.
Interrupting concrete pours was their favourite play, until a change of government cut corners to open it in 1973 at a cost of $50 million.
But nobody remembers that.
This became a feature of the construction industry right across the nation. I called it theOpera House Syndrome.
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During the 1970s a local government public swimming pool project on Sydney Northern Beaches was targeted by unions and disputes with the council and project contractor resulted in concrete that did not harden as expected and had to be dug out. Investigation discovered that sugar had been added between the concrete batch plant and delivery to site resulting in a chemical reaction that stops concrete/cement from hardening, it dries and becomes like mud, crumbles.
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So is that 50 million pounds or AU dollars for the final bill?
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Dollars. It was after “The 14th of February 1966”.
IT LOOS low by today’s standards, but memory tells me fifty..
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Have a little look at the next stage GC light rail overruns…….CFMEU…..
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“Snowy Hydro 2.0 cost spirals to $42bn sparking calls for Royal Commission.”
So, King Charles is getting involved? That will surely clear things up and giving His Royal Highness something to do.
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I have been thinking about Snowy 2.0 and project cost blowing out so far above original estimates.
Note that construction commenced after the Albanese Union controlled Labor Federal Government was elected, May 2022.
Think back to the Rudd Labor 2007 election vote lure of a National Broadband Network and estimate of about $4 billion that later had become $40 billion when the Abbott Coalition Government was elected September 2013. Minister for Communications Turnbull ordered an inquiry and that reported likely projected final cost would be close to $100 billion, and market research indicated that at $40 billion NBN Co assets being rolled out was already above what could be reasonably expected if sold. The Minister ordered a review and obtained advice on how to complete NBN and contain the rising costs, and implemented the recommendations. Labor was very critical of this decision of course.
Now more recently the Victoria Labor Government public works projects that have been reported for a loss of at least $15 billion unaccounted for, possibly misappropriated.
Back to Snowy 2.0, and again what has the extra cost included, what we do know is tunneling collapses and recovery of tunnel boring machinery and various other unforeseen circumstances. Of course given the experiences building Snowy Mountains Hydro Electric Scheme 1.0 this should have been taken into consideration.
The point that I am considering is how much of 2.0 cost is accountable based on project tunnelling problems and are there other operating costs hidden in labour and materials?
If we all out our thinking caps on (Australians) we could compile a much longer list of public works projects that cost far more than taxpayers were led to believe they would cost.
A NSW Government example long forgotten from Wran QC Labor Government was them selling a lot of land and properties around the outside of Sydney CBD, and around Northbridge Northern Suburb, all acquired earlier for ring roads, motorways, to relieve traffic congestion. It is a longer story, the ending was the real estate sold was purchased again for much higher prices by a later NSW Government. And of course increased the final cost of those public works.
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How about idle machinery attracting hire fees 24/07/52?
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$42 billion less $6 billion for State Government shareholdings in Snowy Hydro now wholly Federal Governmemt owned.
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Bananas are useful; I’d say more a noxious weed republic: say a Lantana Republic.
But seriously Turnball should be held accountable for this disaster. Pumped hydro is a contradiction in terms because it uses more energy pumping the water uphill then energy produced when the water goes back down hill; like all ruinables it is a negative energy machine.
And what is overlooked, certainly by Turnball, is that Australia already has a number of pumped hydro installations, Wivenhoe Power Station (QLD), Tumut 3 (NSW), and the Shoalhaven Scheme (NSW), with Tumut 3 the biggest at 1800 MW, 400 MW less then Snowy; and Tumut is rarely used.
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I am not supporting the Snowy 2.0 decision, however the cost does include $6 billion paid to State Governments for their shareholding in Snowy Hydro which is now wholly Federal Government owned public assets.
And noting that construction began after Albanese Labor Government was elected in May 2022. Of course the project was arranged by the Coalition in Governmemt previously.
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Dennis, for God’s sake…..just make it $48 mill……it will sail past though
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All part of the overall system of “renewable energy”, which is of course the cheapest available.
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Yes of course.
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Obviously considering removal and replacement (maybe if shareholders are willing) of these installations every, up to 20-25 years, they are indeed renewable
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The amount of money being so carelessly sprayed around on SH2 without any care for those who worked so hard to produce it is deeply offensive.
If we do need new RELIABLE power, which we do, spend that money on new, efficient coal-powered coal stations or nuclear power stations.
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I agree Annie.
I am a taxpayer, tired of paying for this malarkey.
The taxpayer subsidy needs to stop. Right Now.
SH2 should only proceed further, by only sending any future invoices to those responsible, ie Turnbull and every INDIVIDUAL and NGO whom has supported it now or in the past.
If they believe in it, let them pay out of their own pockets to complete their monumentally stupid, expensive and useless project.
Leave the taxpayer alone.
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One Nation, may be, could be, possibly, hopefully the way to go.
There really is no other option right now
We could of course risk putting my 14 year old grandson in charge! He’d certainly do a better job than the current clowns, liars & moral degenerates!!
Personally I think One Nation would be the obvious choice. We have got nothing to lose but a hell of a lot more chance for our country, poor fella, to get back on track & return to an era of hope! This cant go on any longer without risking total disaster!
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Agreed.
Although I’m not sure if SH2 should be classified as a Liberal or Labor Party disaster since Turnbull was effectively a Labor plant in the Liberal Party. He always wanted to be in Labor but they wouldn’t accept him.
“Uniparty disaster” will suffice however as both parties are almost as bad as each other with respect to their anti-energy policies although Liberals are slightly less bad.
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Turnbull is a classic TEAL.
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The irony of the claims by Liberals and Labor that One Nation don’t have the “”experienced people” to run the country or portfolios is ludicrous in the extreme. As you say, your grandson and probably any other intelligent teenagers could do a better job that the current bunch of career politicians and grifters.
One Nation candidates from various real world backgrounds would be vastly better equipped to manage the economy.
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Get that young Shakell chap from Nuclear for Australia…..cat amongst the pigeons…
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The A$42B is just the beginning.
If they abandon the project because it is too expensive then Australia is stuck with a 500kV power line connecting a bunch of renewables that cannot become reliable.
If they complete the project the renewables will supply unrealiable power with voltage variation making the whole grid unreliable.
If they make the users pay for the cost no-one on the grid will be able to afford a connection or any unreliable power.
Anyway you add all this up its about to cost our nation A$350B.
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The ‘plan’ is coming along nicely.
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Cloward-Piven?
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It is absolutely shameless; green Turnball wanted a legacy project from his thankfully short time as PM and splashed the cash to anyone who put their hand up. Snowy 2.0 was always only a financial construct playing with spot power pricing which has now blown any return out of the water and then the gift of $400 million to ‘save’ the Reef via some dodgy organisation although the Reef was and is perfectly fine by itself.
Malcolm sure left a legacy – bad judgement followed by even worse financial investments on behalf of all Australians – he could equal the mismanagement of the Labor wonderkind Bowen.
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Here in the Septic Isle, we don’t do responsibility – as you can see with our current U-Turn Leader, Sur Sturmer, clinging on by his fingernails despite appointing Mandelson – friend of a pedophile, and alleged to have done all sorts of naughty things last time in office – as Ambassador to the Court of The Donald.
[And, incidentally, making our Upper House – once the House of Lords – now A House Of Cronies.]
Is there any comparable way of holding people – even ex-Minsters – to account in The Lucky Country [ is that name now retired?]?
Or do they just get their gongs and fat [tax-payer-paid] pensions, and appointments by cronies to well-paying sinecures – just like here in the UK?
Auto
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The French had a way, though it was messy. Would that things never get that bad.
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And so many high temperature, efficient coal power stations. Using EXISTING cables. A lot of the cost is in entirely transmission systems.
Just as Victorian Premier Steve Bracks said, dams do not make water. The Renewable utter rubbish and very short term is about huge, even endless transmissions lines and they do not generate electricity. Nor does Snowy 2.0. It does nothing. And the overall loss of power in this mad scheme , if there is enough water anyway, is 50% of what went in. The leakiest storage possible. Who will be prepared to lose half their energy? What sort of storage is that?
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As Albanese takes the begging bowl around Asia for fuel, the absurdity is that we have more fossil fuel than anyone in the region except China and Indonesia. And we refuse to use it, tax it out of existence, legislate it out of existnece by making fossil fuels illegal along with nuclear, fusion, fission, coal seam gas, fracking. Even in the Constitution of Victoria.
Imagine our PM going to Japan for fuel? THEY HAVE NO FUEL. They do not even have enough food. And we go there for handouts?
It’s the height of collective stupidity brough to us by Labor, the Greens and the Teals. Either idiots or haters of democracy and quality of life. Plus the Federal debt we have generated under Labor/Green/Teal including this $42Billion is now over $1000Billion. And another $500Billion at Labor state level. That’s $300,000 in debt at interest to every family in Australia.
Where’s all the money going? And why?
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the absurdity is that we have more fossil fuel than anyone in the region except China and Indonesia.
And the combination of foreign exchange rates and labor wage rates that make it “un-financial” to extract and use it domestically.
Imagine our PM going to Japan for fuel? THEY HAVE NO FUEL. They do not even have enough food. And we go there for handouts?
They still have working/functional refineries.
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I usually laugh sardonically at these rackets, but reading this story this morning I got genuinely angry. The only answer is to have Bowen and his accomplices arrested and charged with treason.
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You need to arrest Malcolm Turnbull and his protege Scott Morrison as well. It’s been a coverup from day 1.
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Australia run by Political idiots.
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Idiots lets them off the hook. Everyone at the top knew the story. And hid it from the public. Just like everything else. “Off budget”. No accounting to parliament. It’s a new form of democracy called theft.
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So Kleptocrats can get off without any responsibility?
Like the UK …?
Oh dear.
Auto
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You are being too kind. These imbeciles havent made it up to idiot level yet.
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Clearly releasing the truth suddenly would demoralize the nation, increasing rates of depression and suicide if people knew how crooked and inept our government really is.
It seems government is ahead of this particular curve.
Recommendation 11 of the report of the Select Committee on Information Integrity on Climate Change and Energy, provides:
The committee recommends the Australian Government consider legislative or regulatory reform which identifies psychosocial harms, places the onus of responsibility in addressing these harms onto digital platforms and monitors effectiveness of their mitigations through regulatory and civic oversight.
https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Information_Integrity_on_Climate_Change_and_Energy/ClimateIntegrity/Report/List_of_recommendations
Nobody need hear about any awkward truths.
Rather Soviet.
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Jo, maybe a belated h/t for Ross with his post #3.2.2.2 under Monday’s general comments this afternoon, posted no doubt whilst you were busy generating this thread. A very worthy read for anyone who missed it, kind of encapsulates how reliable “old knowledge” is being eclipsed by modern concepts and projects that have no foundation in engineering or economical reality.
It makes me think that there’s a paradox most people on this blog may acknowledge. If you espouse conservative views- you’re also expected to be anti-environmental (even if you love, for example, hiking in nature and desiring safe places for native fauna to inhabit). Similarly, if you endorse the use of the conveniently named “fossil fuels”, a critic is more than likely to label you as someone who is backward-thinking without a capacity to understand the complexities of renewable energy.
Speaking personally, l went right into the hub of Lefty territory on Saturday night to the Northcote Theatre to see the hard rock band Helmet play. Their hey day, like mine, was the 90s. Their music wont be to the liking of most of you bloggers. There would have been some “new” audience members, but the majority was “they” who grew up with the music. It’s simultaneously a direct experience and nostalgia.
My worldview has drastically changed in the last 5-6 years. I had a mate going to that gig who dismissed the Spotlight special on renewables last weekend. After a few heated texts, we agreed to park the politics at the door and just talk/experience music on the night.
Discretion is a wonderful thing, If both parties employ it, differences dissolve with a good chat.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wl0XvWjtBS8
The vid link is for comic relief. A visual representation of Australia’s renewables projects…
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The correct link is https://joannenova.com.au/2026/04/monday-154/#comment-2909529.
Hunting for #n.n.n.n is a tiresome task, particularly when an extra suffix has been appended! –Ross’s comment was at 3.2.2, not 3.2.2.2. Better luck next time eh.
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John Howard had zeroed Australia’s national debt while creating the best investment strategy ever.
Now, under Labour, Australia will, by the end of this year be ‘celebrating’ its debt redline of ONE TRILLION DOLLARS with fireworks on the bridge and a national holiday. Actually, of course, there will be no celebrations and no holiday. There should be shame, and the people must understand that debt is what Labour does. It’s like a viper’s venomous bite. It’s what vipers do.
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It’s far worse than that if you count state and local government debt as well.
http://australiandebtclock.com.au/
Total government debt now $2.273 trillion.
Because most politicians, senior public serpents and most of the voting population are now functionally innumerate due to the dumbing-down of the “education” system, few appreciate the scale of such numbers.
In fact, I bet 99% of politicians couldn’t write one billion or one trillion in numerals.
Look at it this way.
If you stacked Australian $100 bills (nominal thickness 0.1408mm) on top of each other to that value, the pile would be 3200km high.
That’s almost the road distance from Sydney to Perth, 3,847 km.
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Consider how quickly the gross debt of Australian governments could be repaid with interest if the restrictions on exploration and exploitation of the natural resources now left in the ground were lifted and the wealth unlocked and taxes collected.
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???
Politicians would find other pet projects to waste the extravaganza on.
The waste, rorts and alleged fraud would continue.
The NDIS scheme appears to be a prime example.
Lack of oversight is a $Billions industry and we’re paying for it.
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Imagine the accolades that a ‘government’ would receive if it managed to produce a series of $10 billion surpluses….. And yet those surpluses, if sustained, would only need 100 YEARS to pay off the debt amassed by these economic illiterates……..
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Let us be real. Grab back the Future Fund and whats left of Turnbull reef money and knock the debt back down to somehwere near where Howard & Costello left it.
Brave browser appears to have the opinion Howard Government sold off the family silver and then reaped the benefits of being in possession of the royalties from a boom in digging up and flogging our raw materials. We weren’t smarter, more productive or leaving a legacy for future generations. We were simply funding the ‘golden egg’ for the Canberra swamp they had neglected to make provision for in their wage budgets and left the next lot of economically illiterate leather seat warmers to create the mess that is the NBN.
Costello was careful in a recent puff piece to describe their achievement as a reduction in ‘Federal debt’. That would have been OK for debt ridden household if in fact they had made sensible investments to regain productivity. History records they clearly did not!
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[Hi Broadie. Please state the source of the quoted article, and/or provide a link. Thanks. – Raquel]
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Apologies Raquel
Used the Brave Search engine.
Links to https://thekouk.com/more-facts-behind-the-howard-governments-debt-elimination/
Plus an I know these are not that reliable the ABC & SMH.
list of assets sold?
Happy to hear if this is true as it is largely referenced from ABC etc.
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[No worries. Was really referring to the source of the quoted Costello ‘puff piece’, just to give credit. Same for anyone quoting text. Cheers. – Raquel]
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Recently former Treasurer Peter Costello (Howard Government) pointed out that since the sovereign wealth Future Fund was created ($60 billion funds invested now close to $300 billion 2026) no government since has contributed, the income from investments retained.
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By the way, Peter Costello was Board Chairman of Future Fund for many years after he retired from Parliament
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Nobody in proper mind Ever issues a “cost Plus” contract, unless money is no object. There is zero incentive to be economical, timely, or efficient.
The only rational contract is “Fixed Firm Price and Schedule with Performance Bond” with options for negotiated prices of unforeseen conditions, highly unusual weather impacts, etc. This gives the Owner some degree of price/schedule control. If the contractor fails, the Bonding company must complete the contract at no additional cost to the Owner. Bid Bonds are about 2% of the contract cost, and cheap insurance if needed.
It is obvious that the Govt of AU is either corrupt, abjectly ignorant, unfaithful to the People, or a combination of all three.
PS: An economic analysis and engineering feasibility study prior to commencing this project would have killed the project at the outset. The transmission lines are about $4 Million/mile. The intermittency of use at less than rated capacity further amplifies the apparent cost and extends the amortization period. Then there’s the ongoing maintenance. Nobody appears to have honestly thought this project through. It isn’t an engineering project, it is a political boondoggle.
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Our Mr. Miliband, here in the UK, is just cottoning on to this.
“Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has approved plans to support new, giant pumped-storage hydroelectric dams across Scotland and England. These projects, part of a strategy to boost energy security and renewable storage, aim to use mountain sites to store backup power when wind and solar output is low, with several projects proposed near Loch Ness.”
Announced in 2024, there will be ‘a string’ of dams to act as giant batteries.
I am unclear if Scottish sensibilities are to be trampled on, with planning approval – even for environmentally sensitive areas in the Highlands – reserved for Westminster alone, but I suspect that that is the way to bet.
I will follow this saga carefully [if it is actually reported on!].
But “Thank you, Australia” – I know the sort of boondoggles that – just might – be cooked up here for this ‘essential national infrastructure’ …
Only essential if you’re trying to rely on breezes – and solar [in the UK! FFS!].
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Won’t putting dams in all those Scottish Highlands ruin whisky production?
Well, I suppose when the UK becomes a caliphate they will no longer need alcohol…
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Initial plans for a power station at the location were discussed in 1966. Further studies were undertaken in 1980 and 1990. The current project originated as the centrepiece of Malcolm Turnbull’s climate change policy in 2017.
The original cost of the project was around $2 billion. A feasibility study carried out in 2017 finding the project was both technically and financially feasible. The study was released on 21 December 2017 and found the project cost would be between $3.8 and 4.5 billion.
The first tunnel, completed by October 2022, was a 2.85-kilometre section that provided main access at Lobs Hole. It was 10 metres in diameter and provides pedestrian and vehicle access into the power station.
By May 2023 the emergency, cable and ventilation tunnel was excavated. It is 2.93 kilometres long, 10 metres in diameter, and will be used for power station ventilation and high-voltage cables. Excavation of the transformer and machines halls began in June 2023. By February 2024, half of the construction required was complete.
Note the dates and that in May 2022 the Albanese Labor Governmemt was elected.
Also, that $6 billion of the cost to date was paid to State Governments to buy their shareholding in Snowy Hydro business now wholly Federal Governmemt owned.
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White Elephant – – The gift that keeps on taking!
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Someone has to be held accountable for the Snowy Hydro 2 disaster, an 88 MW averaged output battery at a cost of $42 billion. (See my post yesterday.)
Even at the original cost claim of $2 billion of not-Engineer Turnbull it was disastrous.
And how can they not do geotechnical surveys before starting the project?
How can they not have spoken to the original Snowy Hydro Scheme engineers or even be aware of common knowledge of tunnelling difficulties in that area?
How can anyone involved not even have noticed roadside cuttings in the area which clearly show heavily fractured rock?
Somebody deserves severe punishment over this, this goes way beyond mere incompetence.
You can have more output at vastly less cost with a gas turbine. (Also, as I mentioned yesterday there were many other cheaper hydro alternatives.)
An aeroderivative gas turbine generator such as the GE LMS100 can produce around 116 MW.
It costs US$35 million to $55 million per unit plus installation. It runs on natural gas or just about any liquid hydrocarbon.
Plus it has a minimal footprint and no destruction of wilderness areas.
It would have been the better deal.
At contract natural gas prices in Australia for 2025-2026, running a GE LMS100 at full load it costs approximately $12,000 to $13,500 per hour in fuel.
If $42 billion were invested in a saving account at 4.5% it would generate around $215,750 per hour and if in an index fund around $383,561 per hour.
SH2 is economic madness.
It should be stopped now. This is a classic example of the “sunk cost fallacy”.
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Incidentally thst 88 MW continuous equivalent was based on minimum reliable annual production I saw somewhere.
If using standard projections, which are probably highly optimistic, of 2.8 TWh, then the average continuous output is 2.8 TWh ÷ 8760 h = 320 MW, so around 3 GE LMS100’s would provide the same power and still be vastly cheaper than the present scheme.
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Aa I mentioned about a week ago, I was in the Kosciuszko National park and there was a sign saying you’re not allowed to film Park staff or contractors.
Presumably they don’t want you to film the environmental destruction caused by ramming the transmission line through pristine wilderness or the environmental destruction of SH2 itself.
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Thank you Malcolm “The Ghost” Turnbull.
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True.
And myself and many others were labelled delusional, (DELCONS), because we considered Turnbull to be a “Labor-Green” Liberal Prime Minister.
I can’t write what I would like to say about Turnbull and his supporters at the time.
Jo would censor me…permanently!
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Snowy 2.0 was a Labor Green later Teal project in disguise, PM Turnbull pointed out a number of times how 2.0 and wind installations would work together, meaning supply electricity when the intermittent wind turbines supply not required for the grid was available, in other words sold for profit.
A reminder;
https://stopthesethings.com/2017/03/13/born-lucky-stars-align-perfectly-for-pms-son-with-mammoth-bet-on-wind-power-outfit-infigen/
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The lack of transparency of this disastrous project is also reflected on the infrequent news updates that were released.
The only good news that could come out of this is to cancel it immediately.
Perhaps the partially complete tunnels could be rented to mushroom growers…
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That depends on the type of media you use. SH2 do a lot of social media posts where they have updates of the project’s progress. It’s typical government SM type posting though. Female and multicultural employees are heavily promoted to highlight the project’s diversity etc. The posts never mention stuck tunnel machines, delayed timetables or cost blowouts etc. Straight out of 1984.
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Here is a list of the world’s most expensive and/or useless projects.
Snowy Hydro 2 at $42 billion EASILY surpasses all of them (except for “Aussie” renewables, trillions). Another Aussie first!
– Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository in the United States thst has never receiveda single shipment of waste. (US$17+ Billion)
– Ryugyong Hotel (North Korea). A 105-story “Hotel of Doom” in Pyongyang, this building started construction in 1987 and has never been finished. Cost unknown.
– Dubai World Islands (US$12+ Billion).
– Naypyidaw, Myanmar (US$4+ Billion). The capital city of Myanmar with 20-lane highways remains largely empty and unused. Cost unknown.
Mirabel Airport (Canada), built in the 1970s, hardly ever used, abandoned 2004. Cost hundreds of millions.
– California City, California. A massive, planned city in the Mojave Desert laid out in the 1950s that was never occupied. Cost unknown.
– Goldin Finance 117 (China). A massive skyscraper in Tianjin designed to be a landmark but abandoned. Cost unknown.
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It was very dishonest marketing Snowy Hydro 2 off the back of the original successful properly engineered Snowy Hydro Scheme and pretending that SH2 was properly engineered as well.
Also, as I understand it, the designers of the original Scheme new about the possibility of SH2 but it was never implemented because they knew it wasn’t viable, engineering wise, economically or in any other way.
I would also like to know who gave Turnbull the idea about this. He is too stupid to have thought this up himself
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WE could have built some coal plants at the same time, and they would have been built a lot sooner.
https://rafechampion.substack.com/p/nuclear-is-dandy-but-coal-is-quicker
https://rafechampion.substack.com/p/how-helpful-is-the-nuclear-movement
To signal the problem with a nuclear industry in Australia, here is the story told by Gemini
https://gemini.google.com/share/92d0b83a3f88
Tell me the story of the attempt to find a site in Australia to store low level nuclear waste.
The quest to find a permanent home for Australia’s low-level nuclear waste has been a 40-year saga of scientific necessity colliding with fierce local resistance. Despite producing medical isotopes that benefit one in two Australians, the nation remains the only country with a nuclear reactor that doesn’t have a centralized disposal facility.
Here is the breakdown of how we got to the current “back to square one” status in 2026….
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I think the Sheeple think SH2 is a generator.
They have no awareness that it’s an energy-consuming battery with a 20% round trip loss.
The lie is promulgated by Leftist-infested sources like Wikipedia.
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Who owns Webuild?
Gulag AI says:
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Malcolm Turnbull. When you absolutely, positively have to screw up a nation and a political party.
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I posted the link here a few times in years past, ambition and Timeline History of political ambitions left leaning that resulted in running successfully as a preselection candidate by Liberal Party branch members to replace the sitting Liberal MP in the Wentworth Electorate, Sydney.
stopturnbull
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Dr Faustus mentions this in the Tuesday (unthreaded) Post quoting the former Snowy Hydro CEO
Huh! He’s proud to quote this.
What makes this the most abjectly pitiful thing is that ….. NO ONE knows what he (subliminally) means ………. that this whole project is actually a nett energy CONSUMER to the tune of almost around 20%.
And then he has the sanguine belief that the (Huh! EXCESS) unreliable wind and solar power will provide the power to pump the water ‘back up the hill’.
It has nothing whatsoever to do with delivering what has now become critical power. It’s just a money making machine, classical arbitrage. (at its best example)
He knows he can get away with saying that because he knows no one knows what he knows. (don’t call me big nose!)
Tony.
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I assume that all Australians are aware of the public works construction scandal in Victoria where reports of around $15 billion have disappeared, not accounted for, with allegations of misappropriation involved?
When the new Parliament House Canberra ACT was under construction I was told by a trades business owner from Queanbeyan NSW that he had been recruited by a union to accept a position working on that project and when he said he did not have the time he was told the job was easy, arrive on site and clock on, leave and go about other business during the day, return afternoon and clock off. Apparently it was a union organised workforce based numbers of union members on site revenue scheme.
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100% Dennis……the stories around New P house were legion……Unions 1st 2nd and 3rd…
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All the new AEMO contracts are far worse than Snowy 2. Snowy 2 will provide an energy sink in the short term to enable coal fired power to run harder when the rooftop solar is producing. So it is compatible with rooftop solar until new coal fired generators can be built – all existing could have been upgraded for the cost of Snowy 2.
The new grid solar and wind farms covered under the AEMO contracts will have little opportunity to produce. But they have guaranteed ROI so will be paid irrespective of output. A burden on taxpayers for the next 20 to 30 years without producing anything of value.
Remember Snowy 2 was instigated under Turnbull and has UN-party support.
There is only one party that has consistently challenged the UN Climate Change™ hoax – One Nation. The only hope for Australia to remove the UN stooges is to vote One Nation.
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Rick, if Australia is ever sensible enough to elect a rational Government which allows a free market in electricity and allows companies to build unsubsidised coal, gas, nuclear or even hydro power plants, what would happen to SH2? Does it have any use, even given its outrageous cost which cannot possibly be recovered?
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Snowy 2 will initially enable coal generators to keep operating through the middle of the day.
At the present time, there is so much rooftop coming in at lunchtime that the coal generators needed for the evening peak are running close to their stable firing limit at lunchtime. It appears that the big coal generators can reduce to 60% without flame out being an issue.
Batteries are helping but the more rooftop that comes in, the tighter it gets to keep the existing coal plants running at their minimum. Snowy 2 will ease that situation for a while as well as reducing the need to run all the existing coal plants at evening peak.
Even if every State government embraced their coal resources, Snowy 2 would still find value for peak lopping during the evening peak to avoid running gas plant.
On the present course, the grid is a dead asset. There is a big push to increase connection fees to cover all the new costs coming in. That will encourage wealthy households to go off grid.
So the grid is no longer a monopoly. Anyone planning a new business can plan to make their own electricity using solar, batteries and supporting diesel. At present, you see this primarily as virtue signalling but it will become the preferred option once grid charges go up to pay for all the new stuff that does not generate but needed so wind and solar can be used.
All the new wind and solar farms would be dead assets without government guarantees to get paid to produce nothing. Australia gets useless hardware from China and the next generation are stuck paying for them. It helps Chinese retirees. By contrast, Snowy 2 is not a dead asset unless the project stops. It is an incredibly stupid investment based on what it has now cost.
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Hi Jo, and All,
“And there’s more … .”
Some 16 years ago, Peter Lang had published a costings paper at the BraveNewClimate website for a pumped storage project similar in scale to what became Snowy 2. The link is:
https://bravenewclimate.com/2010/04/05/pumped-hydro-system-cost/
Peter chose as his study’s two pondages Tantangara reservoir as the upper and Blowering reservoir as the lower. The reason that he chose Blowering rather than Snowy 2’s choice of Talbingo reservoir as the lower pondage becomes apparent below.
This morning, I thought to do a search on:
“Blowering reservoir Tumut 3 and Snowy 2”
Here is an AI-generated response:
“Blowering Reservoir acts as the downstream receiver for water released from the Tumut 3 power station and is a critical constraint for the proposed Snowy 2.0 pumped hydro project. Tumut 3, completed in 1973, is Australia’s largest pumped-hydro facility, generating 1,800 MW by recycling water between Talbingo Reservoir (upper) and Jounama Pondage (lower). Snowy 2.0 proposes using Tantangara Reservoir as its upper storage and Talbingo as its lower storage, but its operational efficiency is heavily impacted by the existing Tumut 3 system and downstream releases to Blowering.
Operational Constraints and Water Loss
“Tumut 3 Priority: Talbingo Reservoir must be kept near full to maintain Tumut 3’s generating capacity, which limits the available space for Snowy 2.0’s water storage.
“Discharge to Blowering: If Snowy 2.0 operates at full capacity for extended periods (e.g., seven days), water released from Tantangara can exceed the capacity of the Talbingo-Jounama system, forcing discharge into Blowering Reservoir.
“Water Loss: Water discharged to Blowering is considered “lost” to the Snowy 2.0 cycle, as it flows out of the scheme and must be replenished from upstream sources like Eucumbene, reducing the project’s overall cyclic energy storage efficiency.
Impact on Snowy 2.0 Capacity
“Reduced Recyclable Storage: Due to these constraints, the practical recyclable energy storage capacity of Snowy 2.0 may be significantly lower than the claimed 350 GWh, potentially dropping to as low as 40 GWh if Tumut 3 operations are prioritized.
“Alternative Strategies: To mitigate water loss, operators might need to reduce Talbingo/Jounama levels to the minimum operational threshold (28 GL), which reduces Tumut 3’s capacity but allows Snowy 2.0 to utilize more of Talbingo’s volume, though this still risks discharging to Blowering if Tantangara is full.
Flood Risks: Heavy rainfall combined with Snowy Hydro’s operational releases can cause Blowering to reach full capacity, raising concerns among local farmers about potential flooding of the Tumut River.”
End of quote.
Two things are clear.
1. In choosing Blowering reservoir for the lower storage for his study, Peter Lang made the logical choice as Blowering is not subject to constraints imposed by the operation of the existing, very successful, Tumut 3 pumped-storage system for the lower pondage.
2. By contrast, it is clear that, as Talbingo reservoir was chosen instead as the lower storage by Snowy 2’s designers, the resulting scheme became heavily compromised from the outset. Short of shutting down Tumut 3 at key times, there is nothing that can be done to get around what is a huge constraint on Snowy 2’s operation and therefore its potential performance.
Here then is one very important reason that shows that the design of Snowy 2 was deeply flawed from the outset.
Peter Lang’s paper is a highly recommended read. I am tempted to ask whether Snowy 2’s designers took note. Peter also published other papers on this topic at the BraveNewClimate website. These too provide excellent background as to why the original designers of the Snowy Scheme rejected the idea of using the Tantangara storage in this way.
Paul Miskelly
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In May 2017 I wrote an article on pumped hydro storage in which I mentioned Peter Lang.
No one can claim “they didn’t know”.
I suspect the Government deliberately chose the most expensive option.
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Market structure distortions: Executives in the oil industry argue that paper oil futures prices are disconnected from physical market realities, with one stating, “Our hypothesis is [that] the paper market is being manipulated,” leading to volatile and unpredictable pricing.
Speculative trading: A 2008 Senate report cited by the FTC estimated that up to $25 of a $60 oil price at the time was due to financial speculation, and analysts have suggested as much as 60% of oil prices can be attributed to speculation during periods of market stress.
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Malcolm Turnbull is on record as saying nuclear energy is “…the most expensive form of new generation…” which “…takes the longest to build”. That fool of a man has caused nearly as much damage to Australia as has the climate lunatic Chris Bowen.
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Only the “sunk cost fallacy” keeps this project running.
It’s a disgrace from any perspective.
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