The Snowy 2.0 Pumped Storage Power Station – simply known as Snowy 2.0 – is a giant power generation project in Australia that is designed to supply 2.2 gigawatts of capacity and 350,000 megawatt-hours of large-scale energy storage to the national electricity market. The massive storage capacity will enable the introduction of more wind and solar generation by acting like a giant battery. Snowy 2.0 is the largest renewable energy project under construction in Australia. It includes one of the largest and deepest cavern excavations ever undertaken and includes the longest tunnels of any pumped-hydro station ever built. Construction began in 2019. By 2023, over $4 billion had already been spent on the project.
The project was originally expected to be completed by 2024. After delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, global supply chain disruptions, and both design problems and geological issues, the project was reset in 2023. The 2023 reset substantially increased productivity on the project, but there were stoppages in 2024 due to problems with tunnel boring machinery and safety-related issues. Unforeseen supply chain cost increases have also plagued the project.
The revised total cost to complete the project was set in late 2023 at $12 billion. Snowy 2.0 is currently scheduled for completion by late 2028. Based on the project’s complex history, many people are skeptical that it will happen.
