Snowy 2.0 has reached a major milestone with the commissioning of its fourth tunnel boring machine, with the renewable energy mega-project now more than 70% complete.
Named in honour of Monica Brimmer, a talented Tumut High School student and winner of a First Nations art and storytelling competition, the machine was powered up during an onsite ceremony.
Joined by Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen, Monica radioed in instructions for the first rotation of the TBM’s huge 12m cutterhead.
Related article: Snowy Hydro names new tunnel boring machine
TBM Monica is among the world’s most advanced tunnel boring machines. It has been purpose-built to tackle the Snowy Mountains’ unique and highly variable geological conditions.
TBM Monica will begin tunnelling in the coming weeks and will excavate the portion of the 17km headrace tunnel that passes through the geologically challenging Long Plain Fault Zone.
The commissioning milestone comes as significant progress is made across the project’s worksites in the New South Wales Snowy Mountains.
Almost one kilometre underground at the project’s Lobs Hole worksite, the focus is shifting from tunnelling and excavation to preparing the intricate fitout of an complex underground power plant the size of Sydney Opera House.
To prepare for this, 46 permanent concrete pours have already been completed.
More than 733,000m3 of underground excavation—equivalent to 293 Olympic-sized swimming pools of material—has taken place in the huge subterranean caverns that were created using drill-and-blast techniques, some of which were pioneered on the original Snowy Scheme.
Snowy Hydro CEO Dennis Barnes said, “We’re making strong progress on Snowy 2.0, which is now more than 70% complete.
Related article: Cost reassessment for Snowy 2.0 amid budget blowout
“Like the original Snowy Scheme, Snowy 2.0’s delivery is one of the most complex feats of engineering currently underway in the world.
“Snowy 2.0 is the lynchpin 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.”
