How would you help to build a future powered by sustainable energy?
Imagine it’s the year 2050. You wake up in your home, head to school, or walk through your community – everything runs smarter, cleaner, and more efficiently.
How did we get there?
2025 Competition Task
As a Snowy Hydro futurist, it is your mission to
invent a bold new idea, technology, or system that helps save or reuse energy to lower emissions.
Your idea could be something to power your classroom, reduce wasted energy at home, or rethink how your town receives and uses power.
Big or small, local or global—if it helps build a world that runs on sustainable energy, we want to see how you could Power Up the Future.
Get your class started with the free National Science Week Webinar!
Paired with classroom resources, help your students kick-start their competition entries.
Built for both classrooms and sole students
Teachers
Run the Powering Up the Future competition in your classroom using our ready-made curriculum-aligned teaching tools catered for year 3 to year 10 classrooms.
Access assignment rubrics, fact sheets, student checklists, and more—everything you need to guide students through innovative, future-focused energy solutions.
Ideal for science, technology, sustainability or project-based learning programs.
Students
Whether the Powering Up the Future competition is being run in your classroom or not, you can still invent something amazing to take part in the national STEM competition!
Get creative at home and submit your idea to contribute to a sustainable energy future.
Find resources to help you investigate and brainstorm new ideas as well as plan your entry video.
Your bright ideas could win you and your school up to $3,000 in prizes.
Four categories. Big ideas. Real impact.
The key details
Dates for 2025
Submissions
open – 8am* Monday 4 August
close – Midnight* Sunday 28 September
Community voting
opens – 8am* Monday 6 October
closes – 5pm* Monday 20 October
Winners announced
Monday 27 October
*Times given are AEST
How to enter
All entries must have two parts submitted:
Part 1
A visual representation of your invention.
This could be a photo or video.
We are looking for innovative, insightful and creative ideas/inventions that reduce or reuse energy to lower emissions.
Part 2
A video or written explanation of your idea or invention
Your explanation must be clear and 1-2 minutes in length (video) or 300 words. Your explanation should answer the three dot point questions.
– What is the problem you’re addressing?
– What’s your idea
– How does it work?
Are you ready to Power Up the Future?
Prizes
Win prizes for you and your school valued up to $3000!
Age categories
The Snowy Hydro Powering Up the Future Competition can be entered into the Junior or Senior age category.**
Prize categories
Each age category will have prizes awarded for:
Judges Choice – awarded by a panel of judges who work in the sustainable energy and STEM education sector
and
Community Choice – voted by the public between 6 October – 20 October 2025
Eligibility
The 2025 Snowy Hydro student STEM competition will be open to all Australian students aged 8 to 18 years. Students can undertake their Australian school science challenge entry for how they plan to reduce energy emissions:
- on their own
- as part of a class project
- through school facilitated lessons
- as a homeschool or distance education student
Junior category is open to ages 8-12**. Senior category is open to ages 13+**.
Students are required to submit an individual piece of work and individualised explanation of their solution. Prizes will be awarded to individual winners and runners-up for each category and prize.
**Ages are as of the submission closing date of 28 September 2025. If over 18, submissions will be eligible if entrants are enrolled in an Australian school based education.
Terms and conditions
Still have questions?