Snowy Hydro: government giant, contested projects, uncertain returns
Snowy 2.0 has been under construction since tunnelling began in earnest in 2021, and five years on, Australians are still waiting. The project’s estimated completion date has moved more than once: the current position, as reflected in Snowy Hydro’s own public communications, is first power sometime in 2028, with full commissioning later still. The cost […]
Akaysha Energy: BlackRock’s big battery bet on the NEM
Three hundred and fifty megawatts. That is the nameplate power capacity of the Waratah Super Battery, the New South Wales project that put Akaysha Energy on the map, and the number that still gets repeated in a lot of coverage without enough care about what comes after it. Let’s be careful with that number: 350 […]
Queensland’s energy plan: pumped hydro and public ownership
Borumba Dam sits about 90 kilometres northwest of the Sunshine Coast, in the Imbil State Forest. It’s not a name most Queenslanders know. By the mid-2030s, if the state government’s timetable holds, it will be the site of the largest pumped hydro project ever attempted in Australia – 2,000 MW of dispatchable capacity and up […]
Pumped hydro vs big batteries: which firms the grid?
Snowy 2.0 has now cost past $12 billion and is still not generating a single watt. Meanwhile, a 200 MW / 400 MWh battery near Liddell in the Hunter Valley was energised in stages and dispatching into the NEM within months of final investment decision. Those two sentences contain almost everything you need to know […]
How Heatwaves in Australia Affect Energy Demand?
Heatwaves in Australia are usually accompanied by a significant increase in electricity consumption. This is mainly due to the increase in air conditioner use over the last two decades. In Australia, there are now 6.7 million air conditioners in households. This is up from 1.9 million in 1990. Air conditioners are working at full capacity […]