Snowy Hydro is now preparing for the arrival of its fourth TBM to join Snowy 2.0 – Australia’s largest renewable energy project. 

The new TBM - 178-m length and 11.86 m diameter - has been assembled, tested and accepted at Herrenknecht’s Guangzhou factory, China, in early June. All its major systems (mechanical, electrical, control and hydraulics) have been validated. The machine has then been disassembled, wrapped, shipped and is now on its way to its new home - right here in the Snowy Mountains! 

This machine will excavate a 5km tunnel through a complex geological area deep in the NSW Snowy Mountains, known as the Long Plain Fault zone, to meet up with her sister TBM Florence, and finish the headrace tunnel that will eventually connect Tantangara reservoir with an underground power station built almost 1km underground. 

The pumped hydro expansion to the iconic Snowy Scheme, Snowy 2.0’s incredible scale and power will translate 2200MW of capacity to 350,000 MWh of energy, taking the excess electricity produced by wind and solar during the day and delivering it to provide stability to our energy grid when it’s needed most. Click here and au/38 for further information in the tunnelbuilder archive. Visit https://www.snowyhydro.com.au/. 34/25.