TBM components arriving at Snowy 2.0 site

2 November 2020


Giant TBM components continue to arrive at Snowy 2, Australia’s biggest hydropower project. A 174t main drive has already been delivered to the site for the first of three TBMs that will excavate the scheme.

Loaded on long trailers hauled by heavy trucks from Port Kembla, the first shipments of the TBM components – the front shield, gear-ring probe drill and main seal – passed through the town of Cooma in the Snowy Mountains to arrive at Lobs Hole, where excavation of the main access tunnel (MAT) is to begin.

At 11m in diameter, the TBM will bore at a decline of 9% to excavate the 2,660m MAT leading to the site of the power-plant cavern.

The project is being built by the Future Generation joint-venture (JV) which is led by Webuild (formerly Salini Impregilo) and includes its US subsidiary Lane Construction and local partner Clough. In addition to the MAT, the JV will use two other TBMs due to arrive on site in the coming months to excavate the waterways, access tunnels and other supporting infrastructure.

The JV is also building access roads, camp accommodation for workers and has excavated the MAT portal. In Cooma, it is building a pre-cast factory and bathing plant to produce 130,500 concrete lining segments.

The Snowy 2 project involves linking two existing dams, Tantangara and Talbingo, through 27km of tunnels and building a new underground power station.

The scheme will exploit the highs and lows of energy demand and generation: when there is a surplus of renewable energy production and the demand for energy is low, water will be pumped to the upper dam; when electricity demand is high it is then released back to the lower dam to generate energy.

The system will provide flexible, on-demand power while reusing or ‘recycling’ the water in a closed loop; it will maximise the efficiency of renewables by using excess solar and wind energy to pump water to the higher dam, to be stored for later use.

Snowy 2.0 will provide an additional 2,000MW of fast-start energy and provide 350,000MWh of large-scale storage, enough to power the equivalent of 500,000 homes for over a week during peak demand. It will reduce volatility in the market, support reliability and lower power prices for families and businesses.

The Snowy Mountains Hydro Electric Scheme was first commissioned in 1955 and there have been numerous schemes added in the intervening period. Today, it comprises nine hydro-electric power stations and 16 large dams connected by 145km (90mi) of tunnels and 80km (50 mi) of aqueducts located strategically between Sydney and Melbourne. It generates around a third of the renewable energy in Australia.