Green light for TBM to begin journey to Australia
Snowy Hydro is now preparing for the arrival of its fourth tunnel boring machine to join Snowy 2.0 – Australia’s largest renewable energy project.
This 178-metre 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 TBM has now passed factory acceptance testing at Herrenknecht’s Guangzhou factory in China, ensuring all its major systems (mechanical, electrical, control and hydraulics) are validated and the machine is ready to be shipped to Australia.
The pumped hydro expansion to the iconic Snowy Scheme, Snowy 2.0’s incredible scale and power will translate 2200MW of capacity to 350,000 MWh 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 – Snowy 2.0 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.”