Aspiring engineer Monica Brimmer (and namesake of TBM Monica) meets her machine, which will soon be put to work. Photo: Snowy Hydro.
Snowy 2.0 has faced repeated cost blowouts and delays throughout the life of the project but executives have now thanked workers for their efforts as it hits a major milestone.
In 2023, the company announced the cost of the project had been revised to $12 billion (beyond its inital $2 billion cost) and the completion date pushed out to 2028.
But in October last year, an ongoing “comprehensive line-by-line” reassessment of the project’s costs was launched.
At the time, Snowy Hydro CEO Dennis Barnes said the project remained on track to meet its deadline, with full completion expected by December 2028.
To help with their efforts, a new tunnel boring machine (TBM) was purchased, purpose-built to dig into the Snowy Mountains’ unique geological profile.
At a recent ceremony marking the commissioning of the new machine, Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen said the country’s transition to renewable energy would be due “in no small part” to the project.
“Today, we take another big step forward with the opening of this machine, which is, in my view, far from boring.
“This is a very exciting machine … This is really cutting-edge stuff, and we deserve cutting-edge stuff in Australia, as we are undertaking this remarkable transformation to a much more renewable economy.”
The scale of the project was echoed by Mr Barnes, who pointed to the “immense complexity” of the project as it reached 70 per cent completion.
“Snowy 2.0 is the linchpin of our energy transition, storing enough renewable energy to power three million homes for a week.
“More than half of the energy storage Australia needs by 2050 will come from Snowy 2.0 alone.”
The new TBM was ultimately named in honour of Tumut High School student Monica Brimmer, who also won a First Nations art and storytelling competition.
TBM Monica will start tunnelling in the coming weeks, excavating the portion of the 17-kilometre headrace tunnel that passes through the geologically challenging Long Plain Fault Zone.
Snowy Hydro 2.0’s fleet of tunnel boring machines already includes TBM Florence (named after Florence Violet McKenzie, Australia’s first female electrical engineer), TBM Lady Eileen Hudson (named after the wife of the first Commissioner of the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Authority, Sir William Hudson), and TBM Kirsten (named after pioneering Australian aviator Dr Kirsten Banks, a Wiradjuri astrophysicist).
Together, the four machines will carve more than 27 km of tunnels through the Snowy Mountains.
During the commissioning ceremony, Snowy 2.0 chief delivery officer Dave Evans thanked workers for their hard work.
“That is number one to us – [that of] staying safe and going home in the same condition we turned up.
“I thank you for always striving for improvement and keeping the people next to you safe, while you keep yourself safe.”
The commissioning of TBM Monica marked significant progress across the project’s worksites in the NSW Snowy Mountains.
More than 5200 workers are delivering Snowy 2.0 across four major project work fronts.
Almost one kilometre underground at the project’s Lobs Hole worksite, the focus is shifting from tunnelling and excavation to preparing for the fitout of an underground power plant the size of Sydney Opera House.
To prepare for this, 46 concrete pours have already been completed.
More than 733,000 cubic metres of underground excavation (equivalent to 293 Olympic-sized swimming pools of material) has taken place in huge subterranean caverns that were created using drill-and-blast techniques.
