Tag: News

News

MILESTONE FIRST TUNNEL COMPLETED FOR SNOWY 2.0

11/10/2022

Snowy Hydro is celebrating the completion of excavation for its first tunnel for Snowy 2.0, with the Lady Eileen Hudson tunnel boring machine (TBM) reaching the location of the new underground power station cavern.

The 11-metre diameter TBM has excavated 2.85km to create the main access tunnel at Lobs Hole in the Snowy Mountains, where a workforce of more than 2,200 people are building Snowy 2.0 – the 2,000 megawatt pumped hydro expansion of the mighty Snowy Scheme.

Snowy Hydro acting CEO Roger Whitby said the tunnelling achievement was a significant milestone, with Snowy 2.0 set to underpin the nation’s transition to renewables.

“Snowy 2.0 will not only provide on-demand, quick-start generating capacity for the National Electricity Market (NEM), but a massive 350,000 gigawatt hours of energy storage,” Mr Whitby said.

“This is our first new major tunnel excavation in decades, since construction of the original Scheme, and it gives us access to the site where we will create the enormous cavern 800m underground that will house our power station.

“The TBM Lady Eileen Hudson and our teams from Snowy Hydro and contractor Future Generation Joint Venture have done a great job to complete this critical tunnelling task.

“However, there’s no slowing down. Work across the project continues to move ahead rapidly and this tunnel boring machine is now being dismantled so it can be moved to the Talbingo adit where it will be reassembled with some new components for excavation of the 6km tailrace tunnel.”

While dismantling of the TBM conveyor belt gets underway in the main access tunnel, drill and blast activities are ongoing to excavate cross passages and tunnels to gain access to the power station complex, which will include a 251m-long, 52m-high machine hall cavern and 223m-long, 46m-high transformer hall cavern.

The new work fronts associated with the powerhouse will create further employment opportunities on this clean energy mega-project.

The Snowy 2.0 project will link Tantangara Reservoir (top storage) with Talbingo Reservoir (bottom storage) through 27km of tunnels and a power station with pumping capabilities.

This will enable water to be released for energy generation at times of peak demand and then pumped back to the top storage when there is excess renewable energy in the system, ready to generate again.

Main access tunnel fast facts:

  • 10 metres in diameter
  • Lined with 1,422 concrete rings installed by the TBM
  • Rings comprise 12,798 individual segments manufactured locally in Cooma
  • Has four cross-passages linking it to the adjacent emergency, cable and ventilation tunnel
  • Also has four cross tunnels and a turning bay to facilitate construction access around the power station complex
  • Provides pedestrian and vehicle access into the power station
News

MILESTONE FOR LOCAL SNOWY 2.0 CONCRETE SEGMENT FACTORY

09/08/2022

Snowy Hydro’s Snowy 2.0 precast factory in Cooma has achieved an impressive milestone, with manufacturing completed for all concrete segments that will line the dry access tunnels.

More than 25,000 of these seven-tonne segments have been produced at the Polo Flat factory, which employs 120 people from the 2,100-strong Snowy 2.0 workforce. The segments are being used to line the main access tunnel and emergency, cable and ventilation tunnel at Lobs Hole.

In total, 36,000 or 27% of the 130,000-plus segments needed to line all of the Snowy 2.0 tunnels have now come off the Polo Flat production line, said Paul Broad, Snowy Hydro’s Managing Director and CEO.

“We’re proud to be manufacturing and investing locally, and providing employment opportunities for local people as well,” Mr Broad said. “The precast factory is operated by our principal contractor Future Generation Joint Venture and it is powering along.

“To efficiently and safely produce enough of these massive concrete segments to line the 5.6 kilometres of dry access tunnels is a terrific achievement.”

The factory supports the operation of the three Snowy 2.0 tunnel boring machines, which are excavating 27 kilometres of tunnels from Tantangara Reservoir to Talbingo Reservoir for the Snowy 2.0 pumped-hydro expansion of the Snowy Scheme.

The Polo Flat facility includes a concrete batching plant and segment manufacturing from two automated carousels, producing up to 24 rings, each one made of nine segments, per day.

Many of the raw materials like aggregates and sand are sourced from the local Schmidt Quarries at Mt Mary and Nimmitabel, which is reducing transport time and costs. Concrete is mixed within the batching plant, which is then transferred into the factory and poured into specially-designed moulds. 

With the use of innovative robotics, the moulds progress along the carousel as the segments cure and finish. There is an onsite laboratory and testing to check the quality of every segment produced.

Snowy 2.0 is leading the way in Australia to successfully deploy and use robots to automate the process of demoulding, cleaning and application of the release agent on the moulds, before pushing them through to the next production stage. This has allowed the factory to maintain a safe and low-noise working environment for workers. 

It takes approximately eight to 10 hours to cure and de-mould each segment from start to finish, then they are stored for about two weeks before being transported to site, loaded into TBMs and installed in the tunnels.

FAST FACTS – DRY TUNNEL SEGMENTS

  • Number produced = 25,210
  • Distance if all these segments were placed side-by-side = 86.3 kilometres
  • Tonnes of concrete used = 151,260
  • Equivalent rings (nine segments per ring) = 2,802
  • These segments – designed to provide durability under extreme fire loads – have been laboratory tested for fire loads of 1,350 degrees Celsius for up to 120 minutes.

Snowy 2.0 project background: Snowy 2.0 is a nation-building project that will underpin thousands of megawatts of renewables and will continue to keep the lights on for generations to come.

Snowy 2.0 will link two existing Snowy Scheme reservoirs, Tantangara and Talbingo, and its new  power station with six pump-turbines will be located about 800m underground. Water in the top storage will be released for energy generation at times of peak demand and pumped back at times when there is excess renewable energy in the grid, so Snowy 2.0 is ready to meet demand when needed.

News

JINDABYNE DAM SPILL

20/12/2021

Following recent significant rainfall events, Jindabyne Dam reached full supply level (FSL) today and commenced spilling into the Snowy River this morning.

Up to 140mm of rain was recorded in Snowy Scheme catchments over the weekend, continuing what has been a very wet year and the wettest November/December since 1992.

The spillway is likely to continue to operate intermittently for the next few days and Lake Jindabyne will remain very close to FSL this week.

With further storm activity forecast for the Christmas weekend and limited opportunities to pump water from Lake Jindabyne into the Murray River catchment, it is expected the spillway may operate again by the end of the week.

Snowy Hydro is working closely with NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (Water) to identify opportunities to make controlled releases and manage downstream impacts. Dam safety is paramount at this time and the spillway gates will automatically release water to return the storage to 100%.

Lake levels are anticipated to remain high for at least the next month, with continuing wet weather predicted in the seasonal outlook.

For the community the most important message is to stay safe and well-informed.  The public can stay updated about flood alerts here:

For more information about releases into the Snowy River visit 

https://www.snowyhydro.com.au/generation/live-data/lake-levels/ and

https://dpie.nsw.gov.au/water/home

Snowy Hydro will continue to keep the community informed about management of water in Lake Jindabyne through its website and social media channels.

News

Snowy Hydro signs game-changing deals

01/11/2018

Snowy Hydro announced the signing of eight wind and solar contracts today to provide cheaper energy to 500,000 households.

The eight projects, totalling 888 megawatts (MW), are located across New South Wales and Victoria and are expected to generate about 2.8 terawatt hours of energy annually.

The new renewable energy generation, ‘firmed’ by existing Snowy Hydro assets, is a game-changer and will push down future energy prices. This will bring on significant new energy supply and therefore much-needed competition to the market, and will enable Snowy Hydro to pass on lower wholesale prices to our customers.

The renewable energy we have contracted will enable Snowy Hydro to offer very competitive, firm wholesale prices (ie. the cost of the raw renewable energy plus the cost of ‘firming’) – for below $70/MWh for a flat load, for up to 15 years.

Snowy Hydro is a key provider of fast-start, “capacity”-type products, and we keep the lights on at times of high demand. However, we are ‘energy short’ (meaning that we do not generate enough energy from own power stations to cover all of our customers) so we have to purchase energy from the wholesale market. We are one of the largest energy buyers in the NEM and, just like households, we are exposed to high wholesale prices.

Over the last 12 months, there have been rapid changes in the NEM and competitive pricing across all generation technologies has seen the cost of renewables fall.

Snowy Hydro was overwhelmed with the level of interest in our Renewable Energy Procurement Program, which saw more than 17,600MW of projects submitted through the procurement process. All eight winning projects are expected to come online within the next two years.

Snowy Hydro’s existing hydro, gas and diesel assets give us the ability to ‘firm’ up vast amounts of intermittent renewable generation today to ensure energy is available when needed.

In simple terms, ‘firming’ works by transforming intermittent energy into reliable energy so it’s available on-demand when a customer needs it. While the energy output of individual projects varies, Snowy Hydro’s power stations can work in combination with wind and solar, creating ‘firm’ reliable energy.

Snowy Hydro owns Red Energy and Lumo Energy, which together have more than one million customers.

News

Snowy 2.0 Feasibility Study Delivered

20/12/2017

Snowy Hydro’s independent Board of Directors has approved the Snowy 2.0 feasibility study, and for further work to be undertaken for the project to progress to a final investment decision in 2018.

The feasibility study released today confirms that the Snowy 2.0 pumped hydro expansion project is both technically and financially feasible.  The comprehensive study provides a base case design and a strong investment case that exceeds Snowy Hydro’s stringent investment hurdles, with significant input from leading experts in economics, engineering and geology.

Snowy Hydro’s CEO, Paul Broad, said that progressing Snowy 2.0 was a strategic business decision and the projected return on investment would enable the company to fund the project.

“Snowy Hydro already plays a critical role in keeping the lights on but Snowy 2.0 would supercharge our existing capabilities by adding an additional 2,000 megawatts of dispatchable generation and 350,000 megawatt hours of large-scale storage.

“Snowy 2.0 will underpin the security and reliability of the National Electricity Market (NEM) as we transition to a low emissions future, at least cost to consumers.

“As coal-fired generation retires and renewables continue to grow, Snowy 2.0’s scale and central location will provide secure and reliable energy generation and the necessary large-scale storage to prevent blackouts and lower future energy prices.

“Snowy 2.0 is a strategic long-term investment in the NEM that will firm up future wind and solar generation.  Intermittent renewables underpinned by Snowy 2.0 is a combination that could replace baseload generation when coal-fired power stations retire,” Mr Broad said.

The feasibility study outlines:

  • A strong investment case for the project and funding strategies.
  • A base case technical design, to be further refined as the project moves to final investment decision.
  • The independent estimation of costs between $3.8 – $4.5 billion, which takes into account the need for extensive reinforcement of the project’s structures due to the challenging geological conditions that were uncovered during the geotechnical drilling program.
  • If Snowy 2.0 is not built, the NEM would need a combination of batteries and gas peaking stations to meet future energy needs.  This would cost at least twice as much as Snowy 2.0.
  • A project schedule that will see the first power generated from Snowy 2.0 in late 2024, in time to meet market needs.

“Completing this study is a significant and exciting milestone for us but it’s only just the beginning. The sheer size of Snowy 2.0 makes it a complex and significant project that will put the Snowy Mountains back in the global spotlight,” Mr Broad said.

Between now and final investment decision, Snowy Hydro will undertake further work including additional geotechnical drilling, issuing project tenders, finalising funding for the project and working through well established and rigorous environmental and planning approval processes.

The project will also boost economic activity across the Snowy Mountains from employment opportunities across the supply chain and in supporting services.

Snowy Hydro would like to acknowledge the work of our lead study engineer SMEC Australia and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency for their contributions to the study.

The feasibility study and more information on the project can be found on our website here.

To watch a video on the project click here.

News

Snowy Hydro briefs industry on Snowy 2.0

15/06/2017

Snowy Hydro Limited (SHL) held an industry briefing in Sydney today for a large group of representatives of leading construction and engineering firms on the Snowy 2.0 pumped hydro project.

The industry briefing was told that SHL’s feasibility study was in full swing, with plans in place for geotechnical tests to begin shortly. While it was still early days, the company felt optimistic about the viability of the project and all going well, construction could begin in 2018, subject to the outcomes of the feasibility study.

SHL CEO Paul Broad told the briefing that the Finkel Review’s recommendations of a new Clean Energy Target and Regional Security Obligation offered major opportunities for the Snowy 2.0 pumped hydro project.

Mr Broad said there would be a strong increase in the use of intermittent power in the market – wind and solar – that would require reliable and rapid back-up supply of renewable energy. Snowy 2.0 would help further strengthen the critical role that SHL currently plays in ensuring system security and reliability.

“We are already the largest and most reliable battery storage option for the National Electricity Market. With Snowy 2.0, we will be able to provide an extra 2,000 MW of new renewable capacity and provide increased energy security and stability. This will be crucial as Australia transitions to a low-emissions economy over the next 20 to 30 years,” Mr Broad said.

Mr Broad said the importance of the Snowy 2.0 project was apparent from the participation today by key representatives of leading global and local civil engineering, tunnelling and electrical experts.

“There was strong support for the project from the leading industry players who attended the briefing today, and who are keen to partner with us to deliver this exciting project.There has been nothing like this in Australia since Snowy was completed in the 1970s and we want the best people available to assist us,” Mr Broad said.

Snowy Hydro advised industry that it would be undertaking a three-stage process to procure two packages of services, with one covering civil works and the other electrical/mechanical works.
Expressions of Interest would be called for shortly, with selected suppliers to be shortlisted for an Early Contractor Consultation Phase by late July.

Snowy Hydro Media Enquiries:
Simon Troeth

0439 300 335

e: Simon.Troeth@newgatecomms.com.au

News

Snowy Hydro and SMEC reunite for Snowy 2.0

11/05/2017

Snowy Hydro Limited and the Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation Australia (SMEC) will join forces once again, this time to carry out the feasibility study into the potential expansion of the Snowy Scheme’s pumped hydro storage capability.

Snowy Hydro and SMEC have a long association and worked together from the earliest days to develop the iconic 4,100 megawatt (MW) Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme under the auspices of the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Authority, established in 1949.

Selected through a tender competitive process which attracted interest from a field of world-class engineering firms, SMEC has now been appointed as the lead consultant engineer for the feasibility study into the first major expansion of the Scheme since construction days.

Snowy Hydro CEO Paul Broad said “SMEC was the obvious choice to partner with us on the study, given we share the same DNA. It really is a case of getting the band back together. The task now will be to bring together our best and brightest to revisit some of the visionary proposals developed over many years by the talented men and women who built the Scheme.”

The feasibility study will first review existing proposals to expand pumped hydro storage on the Snowy Scheme, many of which have existed since the 1960s. Under the most prospective proposal, up to 2,000 MW of hydro-electric energy could be added to the grid to act as rapid response back-up during periods of high demand and fill the gaps in energy supply caused by the growth in intermittent renewables and the exit of thermal baseload power.

The pumped hydro capability means the water utilised for electricity generation can be recycled to provide supply when it’s needed most, with no impact on the Scheme’s ability to continue to supply valuable water to irrigators in the food bowl of south-eastern Australia.

“This project has the potential to deliver one of the largest pumped hydro schemes in the world and underscores the importance of the Scheme’s existing role as the battery of the National Electricity Market.”

“While it has long been an Australian engineering icon, the importance of the Snowy Scheme’s role as the battery storage of the NEM will only become more critical as we move to a low carbon economy. The reliable, fast-start Scheme can help to responsibly manage the exit of baseload thermal power and the rise of intermittent renewables.

“As we move through the feasibility study phase, we will gain greater clarity around the technical and engineering requirements for the expansion as well as costs and timeframes for its construction”, Mr Broad said.

SMEC CEO Andy Goodwin said “Snowy Mountains are part of our namesake and the backbone of our heritage, so the chance to be involved in this project again is a unique ‘twice-in-a-lifetime’ opportunity, both for our organisation and those engineers who worked on the original scheme.

The Snowy 2.0 project will provide us with new design challenges from its predecessor and we’ve created a team of our most experienced specialists to deliver the feasibility stage.

We’re honoured to be part of the project and looking forward to resuming our presence within the Cooma community again.”

SMEC’s appointment will deliver significant benefits to the local Snowy Mountains community. As part of its commitment to this project, SMEC will reopen its previous offices in Cooma, which will see more than 30 staff permanently based in the town.

News

Expanding Pumped Hydro Storage

15/03/2017

The iconic Snowy Scheme’s role as the battery of the National Electricity Market (NEM) could be supercharged as part of plans to expand the pumped hydro storage capability within the Scheme.
Snowy Hydro, working with the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), will shortly commence a feasibility study into several sites across the Scheme which could support new large-scale, pumped hydro-electric energy storage.

The proposal could add up to 2000 megawatts of new renewable energy to the NEM and act as rapid response back-up to fill the gaps in energy supply caused by intermittent renewables and generator outages.

The pumped hydro capability means the water utilised for electricity generation can be recycled to give continuous supply when it’s needed most, with no impact on the Scheme’s ability to continue to supply valuable water to irrigators in the food bowl of Australia.

Snowy Hydro Managing Director and CEO, Paul Broad, said the proposal has the potential to deliver an innovative clean-energy solution to the critical security and supply issues in the NEM, helping to take the pressure off power prices for consumers and businesses, while reducing emissions.

“From our earliest days, Snowy Hydro has been moving water to support the irrigators in the food bowl of Australia and generating electricity during peak demands to keep the lights on in the NEM,” Mr Broad, said.

“The creators of the Scheme foresaw a time when its capabilities may need to be expanded and, as a result, there are very real options in-built in the Scheme’s design to extract more value to the community.

“At a time when the security and stability of the NEM, energy affordability and emissions reduction are under scrutiny, there is an opportunity to leverage the iconic Snowy Scheme to once again deliver an energy solution for the country.

“By supercharging the utilisation of the Snowy Scheme’s storage, we can help the NEM best cope with peak demand through new supply at a time when baseload energy is exiting the market and renewables with intermittent generation are not providing the reliable capacity needed by Australian businesses and consumers.

“While the feasibility study is the first step, this project could once again bring together the world’s best and brightest engineers and technicians to enhance a national icon.”

The Scheme itself already operates as the ‘battery storage’ of the NEM, utilising dams to store energy in the form of water that can be delivered to the grid within minutes through the fast start capabilities of the Scheme’s nine power stations.

There are a number of sites across the Scheme capable of supercharging Snowy Hydro’s storage capability – providing additional generation capacity, helping the security and stability of the NEM, and with pumping capability to maximise the water resources and existing dam storage in the Scheme.  The most prospective project could increase the capacity of the 4100 megawatt Snowy Scheme by 50 per cent and result in a power station at least as powerful as Snowy Hydro’s 1800 megawatt Tumut 3 Power Station, which already includes pumped hydro capability.

The feasibility study will explore the physical, technical and environmental requirements for expansion of pumped hydro at sites across the Scheme, the potential output of new pumped hydro facilities and the costs associated with each project.

The Australian Government, through ARENA, is negotiating grant funding to support the Snowy Hydro feasibility work as part of ARENA’s ongoing efforts to accelerate Australia’s shift to renewable energy.

ARENA CEO Ivor Frischknecht said expanding the Snowy Scheme could help to deliver ARENA’s goal of ensuring a smooth transition to a renewable energy future.

“Australia’s energy system is rapidly evolving and ARENA is funding solutions like pumped hydro storage that provide consumers with more affordable and reliable renewable energy,” Mr Frischknecht said.

“Pumped hydro is economically viable right now and supports our grids by providing long term energy storage capacity that’s available on demand.”

News

National Heritage Listing for the Snowy Scheme

14/10/2016

The Snowy Mountains Scheme has today been honoured with inclusion on the National Heritage List. As the biggest industrial development Australia has ever attempted, the Snowy Mountains Scheme changed the face of Australia.

Constructed between 1949 and 1974, the Snowy Mountains Scheme is the largest public works engineering scheme ever undertaken in Australia. Made up of 225 kilometres of tunnels, pipelines and aqueducts, sixteen major dams, nine power stations and a pumping station, the entire Scheme covers a mountainous area of 5124 square kilometres in southern New South Wales. Only two per cent of the entire construction is visible above the ground.

The Scheme’s dams, tunnels, aqueducts and power stations, including some buried deep underground, are some of the most complex and technical engineering and construction feats in the country and the world. Significant engineering advancements were achieved during the construction of the Scheme, including rockbolting and the use of 330 kV transmission lines. Remarkably, the Scheme was completed on time and on budget.

Over 100,000 people from more than 30 countries worked on the Snowy Mountains Scheme. Seventy per cent of these were migrants displaced from their homes in Europe during the Second World War. These workers and their children lived in towns and camps across the Snowy Mountains during construction. While many of these people moved on after completing their work, the Scheme still holds a special significance for workers, their descendants and the wider community as a symbol of multicultural Australia. Cooma’s annual multicultural festival continues to showcase the diversity of cultures in the region.

“The Scheme’s inclusion on the National Heritage List formalises the important chapter the Snowy Scheme has in the Australian story and cements our place in the nation’s history,” said Snowy Hydro Limited Chief Executive Officer Paul Broad.

“Snowy Hydro continues to be an important part of the social fabric of the communities we operate in and we continue to be linked with the Snowy Mountains communities that we helped build. While we have evolved to become a dynamic and growing energy company, the heart of our operations continues to be the Snowy Mountains region.”

The Snowy Mountains Scheme is an audacious and brilliant example of modern Australia—a bold idea brought to life by the hard-work of thousands of people coming to Australia from all over the world.

The Snowy Mountains Scheme remains one of Australia’s largest producers of renewable energy, including nearly a third of renewable energy fed into the eastern mainland grid, and manages water flows for over $3 billion in agricultural produce.

The Snowy Mountains Scheme is the 107th place added to Australia’s National Heritage List. For more details see www.environment.gov.au/ heritage/places/national/snowy-mountains-scheme

News

One of the wettest winters on record

12/09/2016

Our weather specialists have been busy monitoring and forecasting the interesting weather patterns that have occurred over the Snowy Mountains region to date in 2016.

The dramatic turn of climate conditions from very dry to very wet has eventuated largely as we were forecasting earlier in the year. Conditions have turned from one of the driest summers on record to one of the wettest autumn/winters on record. This has included some significant inflow events such as around 22 July when we saw the average inflows for the Scheme for the month of July occur in one week alone.

For the statisticians, inflows are now tracking at roughly a 9 per cent probability of exceedance, meaning that we would only expect nine in every 100 years to be wetter. With only four months of the water year passed, we have received well over half of our annual inflows.

As well as the constant and careful management of diversions and forced generation that these very wet conditions require within the Scheme, we are also working closely with stakeholders downstream to make sure key information is exchanged and there are no surprises. This includes the water authorities of NSW Department of Primary Industries – Water, Water NSW and the Murray Darling Basin Authority who operate the major storages downstream of us, as well as our local communities who live and work in an around the Snowy Scheme.

There is still a healthy snowpack on the hill so we are planning for continued wet conditions for spring and early summer which will keep our people and assets on their toes and doing what they do best. The outlook into summer is less certain, but with such a wet catchment we are not expecting things to turn dry any time soon!

News

Experiencing wet conditions

07/09/2016

What a difference a couple of months make! Earlier in the year we were preparing for drier conditions off the back of El Nino but, as our Snowy Hydro climate scientists predicted last edition, we are now experiencing decidedly wetter conditions. With only four months of the water year passed, we have already received well over half of our annual inflows and the snowpack hasn’t started to melt yet. Already we have seen some high inflow events in July which affected landholders around the Murray; and NSW water authorities are carefully watching the Murrumbidgee side to manage any water issues that could arise there.

Snowy Hydro is working with local emergency services and property owners to ensure the lines of communication are open and we update people regularly on the conditions we are experiencing on the waterways across our operations. As the snow melts and inflows into the Scheme increase, it’s important local communities and landholders are kept abreast of any major movements of water. We will continue to work with local authorities and communities in the coming months to carefully manage any water events as they arise.

On a pleasing note, Snowy Hydro has ended the 2015/16 financial year in a strong position. This is the first full year that our recent acquisitions – our gas power station in Colongra and diesel assets in South Australia, as well as Lumo Energy and Direct Connect – have contributed to our financial results.

We hit some significant milestones as a business this year – exceeding more than $2 billion in revenue and passing the one million retail customer mark – a position we have sustained and continue to grow. Our retail businesses – Red Energy, Lumo Energy and Direct Connect – are all working together to attract and retain customers, focusing on superior customer service and industry leading customer satisfaction scores. We have more than 1200 staff working in our retail businesses in Melbourne and we are working to bring them all together under one roof by next year.

Our generation business has also had a strong year. Generation levels have increased as market and operational conditions improved. We are focused on improving the performance of our assets across the fleet and are currently working on a major upgrade of one of the units at Murray 1 in Khancoban, meaning more Snowy Hydro workers will be located in and around that region over the coming months.

We would love to grow support for Red Energy in the Snowy Mountains and, as such, we have been sponsoring local events and festivals and we’re once again sponsoring the ski season this Winter. As a local company with such a long and proud history in the Snowy Mountains, we want to ensure that the communities we live and work in can get the benefit of being our customers, with energy backed by the mighty Snowy Scheme. Our field sales teams have been out and about in the Cooma and Tumut regions over the last few months and will continue to encourage households and businesses to get on board with Red.

Shortly we will be conducting our biennial community research so you may receive a phone call asking you to spend some time talking about Snowy Hydro, how we communicate with you and your understanding of our business and its challenges. If you are approached, we would greatly appreciate you spending the time to give us your thoughts. It’s all confidential and anonymous, of course. It will help us to ensure we are doing the right things to keep you informed about our business. In the meantime, stay safe and dry!

News

Snowy Hydro scores two Australian Business Awards

22/08/2016

Snowy Hydro Limited has been recognised as an ABA100 Winner in The Australian Business Awards 2016 in two categories – Community Contribution and Communication Excellence.  This is the sixth time Snowy Hydro has been recognised by the Australian Business Awards for their outstanding Community Partnerships Program.

Managing Director & CEO of Snowy Hydro, Paul Broad says the award affirms their commitment to taking care of the communities in which they operate and setting the standard as a trusted corporate citizen. The Community Contribution award recognises Snowy Hydro’s achievements in successfully implementing a program that is not only innovative, but as industry leaders push the wider business community towards excellence. The Community Partnerships Program targets investment where it will have a positive impact and generate long-term benefits for the communities of the Snowy Mountains region. The program includes support for the Snowy Hydro SouthCare Rescue Helicopter, Cooma Universities Centre, Young Driver Training as well as local festivals and events.

“We don’t just support charities and not-for-profits; we build partnerships with organisations that are dedicated to supporting better outcomes for the people who live and work in the Snowy Mountains region. The vitality and economic viability of these communities is critically important to Snowy Hydro as these are the towns where our staff and their families live and work.”

In addition, Snowy Hydro was also recognised as an ABA100 Winner in the Communications Excellence category for our Snowy Hydro NEWS quarterly community newsletter.

Over the past decade Snowy Hydro has been dedicated to significantly improving communication with the communities it operates in to build relationships, help people understand its business operations and obligations and improve community engagement.

“Through this newsletter Snowy Hydro has seen a measurable improvement in communication, engagement, perceptions and business understanding in our communities. Being awarded the Australian Business Award for Communication Excellence signals that this communication tool is not only successful, but our number one communication tool with our local communities.
“For over a decade, The Australian Business Awards have recognised organisations that prioritise innovation and technology as drivers of local and international markets,” Australian Business Awards Program Director, Ms Tara Johnston, said.

“The ABA100 Winners have demonstrated a commitment to technologically transformative innovation through business initiatives that have propelled them to success in a highly competitive business environment. These organisations not only position themselves as industry leaders, but also push the wider business community towards excellence.

“Those organisations that can continue to evolve alongside ever changing business models will secure their longevity, continually contributing to the marketplace by disrupting the status quo in a positive way,” Ms Johnston added.

Each year the ABA100 Winners are recognised through a variety of different award categories that demonstrate transformative business and product innovation. Corporate, government and non-government organisations are recognised for their ability to drive innovation through the application of technical expertise in the management of industry leading initiatives, and for the research and development of high-performing products and services.

Initiatives are evaluated based on their transformative capacities via a detailed analysis of the method, execution, performance and outcomes of their initiative. A focus is placed on initiatives that have a demonstrable transformative effect both internally within the business and externally in the wider business community.

For more information on The Australian Business Awards and the 2016 ABA100 Winners go to www.australianbusinessawards.com.au.

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