Peter Riley1d ago

Thanks Sarah Missen

Industrial disputes & news - 21 May 2025
QLD #nurses & #midwives; #WestWimmera Shire Council; #Kempe; #RiverinaWater; #Mondiale; #Snowy2.0; #AlliedPinnacle; #BMSCranes; #TWU; #CFMEU ACT & Vic #TAFEs

https://open.substack.com/pub/disputesreport/p/industrial-disputes-and-news-21-may?

Industrial disputes & news - 21 May 2025

QLD nurses & midwives; West Wimmera Shire Council; Kempe; Riverina Water; Mondiale; Snowy 2.0; Allied Pinnacle; BMS Cranes; TWU; CFMEU ACT & Vic TAFEs

Disputes Report
John EnglartFeb 25, 2024

Snowy 2.0 Pumped Hydro Project making progress despite budget ballooning sixfold to $12bn and a delay of supplying power to the grid by 7 years (2028) Six turbines about to be installed more than 1km underground to generate 2,200MW for a total of 350GW-hours – enough to power 3m homes for a week.

This is Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's legacy

#Snowy2 #EnergyTransition #PumpedHydro #Australia

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/feb/23/snowy-hydro-2-project-scheme-fortunes-kosciuszko-national-park

Snowy Hydro’s 2.0 fortunes might finally be turning as drilling gets back on track

Just over half of the project’s construction is already complete as the project’s previously stalled 2,500-tonne tunnelling machine returns to the grind

The Guardian
MattWhyNov 3, 2023
#snowy2 I have no doubt the intentions were good, but its no longer a good solution.
Its a solution that is 6 years old, out of date and too easily replaced with cheaper alternatives that will produce a more resilient system.
It predates the widespread use of big batteries, the green hydrogen revolution and the coming introduction of wave energy
Whatever has now been spent should be written off and move on.
Andy BakerNov 2, 2023

This ABC doco is recommended for those interested in large tunnelling projects and Australia's Snowy Hydro 'pumped hydro' battery that is running years late and hugely over budget.

The tunnelling machine is bogged.

I read the EIS in detail back in the day, advising on groundwater as part of a larger submission.

I am confident that the geology ahead is poorly mapped and complex. Weathered basalt and limestone are both possible, with more opportunities for bogging and flooding. Watch this space...

Four Corners: Series 2023 Tunnel Vision
https://iview.abc.net.au/show/four-corners/series/2023/video/NC2303H039S00

The nation-building project that went horribly wrong. Snowy Hydro 2.0 was sold as a low-carbon future by the end of 2024. Instead, the pumped hydro project is now five years behind schedule and forecast to hit $12 billion.
#energy #renewables #Snowy2 #geology #groundwater #tunnelling #pumpedhydro

Four Corners

Four Corners is the home of Australian investigative journalism. These fearless and forensic documentaries expose scandals, trigger inquiries, fire debate and confront taboos.

ABC iview
Whiskers 🇦🇺Oct 24, 2023
No moving parts. Scaleable. Instantaneous.
#SouthAustralia #energy #Snowy2
Mojo ♻️Oct 23, 2023

Australia’s Snowy 2.0 was sold as a nation-building megaproject for a low-carbon future – and was meant to be feeding power into the grid by the end of 2024. Instead, the pumped hydro project, which was once estimated to cost $2 billion, is four years behind schedule and now forecast to hit $12 billion. #Snowy2 #Australia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJhxRknHCvU

Inside the engineering megaproject that went horribly wrong | Four Corners

YouTube
The BuzzOct 23, 2023
#4corners the party that bought you #Snowy2 want to build NUCLEAR POWER STATIONS! Yes, the #lnp Fg things up since the #COPPERNBN #afternoonbriefing #insiders #abc730 #thedrum let's not forget who's responsible Malcolm Turnbull #auspol https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/is-malcolm-turnbulls-snowy-hydro-20-a-breakthrough-a-distraction-or-both-20170317-gv078w.html
Is Malcolm Turnbull's Snowy Hydro 2.0 a breakthrough, a distraction or both?

What if the biggest government announcement in electricity generation in years was both a great breakthrough and a distraction?

The Sydney Morning Herald
Greg HillsOct 23, 2023

"Four Corners asked the NSW regulator how many safety breaches there have been at Snowy 2.0.

"It refused to provide the numbers, saying it may affect the contractor's reputation."

It *should* affect their reputation. One of those breaches was a tunnel full of isocyanate - "it's just water vapor," they said.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-10-23/snowy-hydro-sinkhole-toxic-gas-tunnelling-four-corners/102995568

#australia #snowy2 #auspol

A sinkhole, toxic gas and the $2 billion mistake behind Snowy 2.0's blowout

Snowy Hydro's tunnelling machine caused a sinkhole and spent months barely moving, then the troubled project's tunnel began filling with gas.

ABC News
Whiskers 🇦🇺May 23, 2023
The #Swiss, who drill #tunnels before breakfast, must be amused at our clumsy attempts
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-23/snowy-hydro-spent-100m-on-geotech-surveys-before-boring-woes/102381864?utm_campaign=abc_news_web&utm_content=link&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_source=abc_news_web #snowy2 #renewableenergy
$100m spent on underground mapping before tunnelling woes, Snowy Hydro boss admits

Following the revelation made by Dennis Barnes at a Senate estimates hearing, an analyst predicts the project cost will blow out to at least five times the original figure.

ABC News
×
Whiskers 🇦🇺Oct 24, 2023
No moving parts. Scaleable. Instantaneous.
#SouthAustralia #energy #Snowy2
Show threadSuperMoosieOct 24, 2023

@ecoscore

How many do you need for 350,000 megawatt hours of storage and a despatchable 2,200 megawatts?

Show threadComrade WeezOct 24, 2023
@SuperMoosie 89,743 Megapack 2XLs for the 350,000MWh capacity. 2200MW can be dispatched from 2134 Megapack 2XLs. @ecoscore
Show threadSuperMoosieOct 24, 2023

@weezmgk @ecoscore

Cool , so only 89,531/1,922 more megapacks* than the big Victorian Battery, which was recently the largest in the southern hemisphere.

*not sure in my quick google if it uses the 2xl.

Show threadComrade WeezOct 24, 2023
@SuperMoosie What are you trying to do with your 350 GWh at 2.2GW? @ecoscore
Show threadSuperMoosieOct 24, 2023

@weezmgk

Build a Snowy2 out of batteries.

@ecoscore

Show threadComrade WeezOct 24, 2023
@SuperMoosie Ah. You're trying to replace generation with storage. I think you're shooting way high on the capacity. Build offshore wind, tidal, wave, heckin big PV farms and dot in local scale batteries all over the place to soak up rooftop solar. Need to get coal gens out of the picture. They are controlling rooftop & PV farm export prices by overgenerating. Prices go negative midday- I would have to pay to export, so I disconnect from the grid. Dirty way to keep the grid dirty. @ecoscore
Show threadJesseOct 24, 2023

@weezmgk @SuperMoosie @ecoscore "Only 28GW, or around 115GWh of daily storage was needed. This came from existing pumped hydro (22GWh), three million household batteries, and the ability to use 10 per cent of an electric car fleet of 10 million vehicles."

https://reneweconomy.com.au/australia-100-renewables-could-be-cheaper-quicker-and-easier-than-thought-18462/

At its original price Snowy2 would be a great and cheap solution to this storage need. Even at its current price it's still almost worth it.

Australia: 100% renewables could be cheaper, quicker and easier than thought

Windlab says detailed study of last two years of NEM demand shows that switch to 100% renewables could be cheaper, quicker and easier than previously thought.

RenewEconomy
Show threadBlacksmithOct 25, 2023

@jessta

$12Bill could have bought a lot of EV subsidies with Vehicle to Grid.

@weezmgk @SuperMoosie @ecoscore @Power