A brand-new tunnel boring machine (TBM) is on its way to the Snowy Mountains to contribute to Australia’s largest renewable energy project.
The TBM has been assembled, tested, accepted, disassembled, wrapped, shipped and is now on its way to its new home in the Snowy Mountains.
This 178m long machine has been purpose-built to excavate a 5km tunnel through a complex geological area deep in the NSW Snowy Mountains, known as the long plain fault zone, that will eventually connect Tantangara reservoir with an underground power station built almost 1km underground.
The pumped hydro expansion to the iconic Snowy Scheme, Snowy 2.0’s incredible scale and power will translate 2200MW of capacity to 350,000MWh of energy, taking the excess electricity produced by wind and solar during the day and delivering it to provide stability to our energy grid when it’s needed most.
Snowy Hydro Chief Delivery Officer David Evans said the project would play a pivotal role in enabling Australia’s transition to clean energy.
“Snowy 2.0 is essentially a giant battery, providing long-duration storage for wind and solar power to complement the short-duration storage that batteries provide,” he said.
“The successful completion of factory acceptance testing is testament to months of meticulous design, rigorous testing, engineering excellence and collaboration.”
She will soon begin the mammoth task of excavating through the Long Plain Fault to meet up with her sister TBM Florence, and finish the headrace tunnel.
When fully excavated, the Snowy 2.0 power station will be the equivalent of a 20-storey, 250m long building, located 800m underground.
The Snowy 2.0 project is a significant pumped hydro upgrade to the existing Snowy Hydro Scheme, aimed at bolstering the national energy grid.
Snowy 2.0 is on track to be delivered within the $12 billion budget and be complete by the end of 2028.
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