Pumped Hydro Plant In NSW Was To Cost $2 Billion In 2017; 65% Complete, It's Pushing $13 Billion

[hatrack]

Snowy Hydro is preparing for another significant cost overrun on the massive Snowy 2.0 project in the Kosciuszko national park, with a line-by-line reassessment ordered from contractors on Friday. The giant pumped hydro project, first touted by the Turnbull government in 2017 as costing $2bn, was later revised to a cost of $5.9bn. Escalating to almost $13bn in 2023, construction is due to be completed by the end of 2028.

The Snowy Hydro chief executive, Dennis Barnes, said the latest cost assessment was deemed necessary due to significant supply chain price increases, including related to an underground power station, as well as delays from stoppages in 2024 with a major tunnel boring machine. He said the cost of adding a fourth boring machine could not be covered within the most recent project price tag.

The nine-month process to determine a new total price tag will be completed by the project’s Italian construction partners, Future Generation Joint Venture. Barnes said the project was 67% complete and good progress has been made since a major reset in 2023, but productivity improvements had not been as significant as required.

The project aims to link two existing Snowy reservoirs by tunnels up to 27km in length. Once completed, it will be able to generate 2,200 megawatts of power. “We have gradually come to the realisation, and then quickly come to the realisation that we’re not going to achieve the schedule at target cost of $12bn,” Barnes said.

EDIT

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/oct/03/snowy-hydro-20-flags-another-cost-blowout-with-12bn-price-tag-now-considered-unachievable

[bucolic_frolic]

1. Hats off to bean counters and engineers!

If not them, then somebody figured how to milk a project but good.