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Snowy Hydro says project could reach $25 billion as completion slips to 2029

The Australian government says Snowy 2.0 could cost as much as $25 billion, up to 12 times its original budget. The project’s completion date has shifted from 2021 to late 2029, while tunnelling is 65 per cent complete.

AI-assisted synthesis · Based on 4 outlets' reporting · Article text read from 1 of 4 outletsHow it's made

View timeline · 8 entries
4 outlets2 regionsLatest reporting 2 min read
Coverage: Mostly CenterL 1 · C 3 · R 0

What happened

The brief

Snowy 2.0 could cost as much as $25 billion, up to 12 times its original budget, while its completion target has moved from 2021 to late 2029. AAP reported that the government’s update cited geological and labour cost challenges. Tunnelling is 65 per cent complete. Energy Minister Chris Bowen and Finance Minister Katy Gallagher released the update on Friday.

It describes a project whose schedule and estimated cost have shifted substantially, even as tunnelling continues. The update places the new completion target at late 2029, eight years after the original 2021 target, and gives the current cost ceiling as $25 billion. The project underwent a reset in 2023.

At that time, the government renegotiated its agreement with Italian contractor WeBuild, and the estimated cost first rose to $12 billion. The current estimate is presented as a possible maximum, rather than a settled final cost: Snowy Hydro 2.0 could cost as much as $25 billion.

Mr Barnes, whose first name and position are not given in AAP’s account, described a change in the pace of progress. He said the project had been advancing by about 0.2 per cent a month in 2023 and was then progressing at 1 per cent a month. The account reports both figures as his assessment; it does not specify how the monthly progress rate is measured.

Bowen and Gallagher said completing the project remains the responsible course. They argued that abandoning it would undermine grid reliability, scrap 5,000 jobs and lead to higher bills. Those are the ministers’ stated reasons for continuing, alongside the update’s disclosure of the potential cost and schedule overruns.

The headline from ABC Australia also reports that Snowy 2.0 is set to cost 12 times more than its initial budget and face further delays. The central figures in AAP’s account are a potential cost of up to $25 billion, tunnelling progress of 65 per cent, and a late-2029 completion target. The ministers’ position is that the project should be completed despite those challenges.

Why it matters

  • The ministers say abandoning the project would scrap 5,000 jobs, identifying project workers as a group directly affected by that decision.
  • The ministers say cancellation would undermine grid reliability and lead to higher bills for Australians.
  • The potential cost ceiling is $25 billion, and the updated completion target is late 2029, extending the schedule beyond the original 2021 target.

What to watch next

  • Whether the Australian government’s cost estimate changes from the stated potential maximum of $25 billion.
  • Whether tunnelling progresses beyond the reported 65 per cent completion.
  • Whether Snowy 2.0 meets its late-2029 completion target.
  • Whether the government continues the project, as Bowen and Gallagher advocate, or abandons it.

How it's being covered

Coverage analysisShow details
4 source articles · 4 unique outlets
Outlet political mix: Mostly Center· 1 Left · 3 Center
Where the outlets are based: Asia 50% · Europe 25% · Other 25%
Outlet political mix
Mostly Center
Left
Center
Right
1 outlet
3 outlets
0 outlets
The marker shows coverage balance: each unique outlet counts once.
Geography
Where the outlets covering this story are based.
4 unique outletsDominant coverage: Asia
Coverage imbalance
  • Coverage is currently concentrated among Center-rated outlets (3 of 4 rated sources); comparatively few Right-rated outlets have published on the event.
How we measure coverage

2 sources are from a wire service (AP, Reuters, AFP or Bloomberg), whose reporting other outlets often republish.

How outlets' accounts compare

Updat3 does not yet have enough full reports to compare how outlets framed this story.

Timeline

Developments from this story's sources, dated background we compiled and fact-checked, and our earlier coverage. Each row says which.
  1. Construction of that scheme began in 1949, creating the reservoirs and hydropower infrastructure that Snowy 2.0 was designed to expand.
    Background · from our historical context
  2. The project builds on the Snowy Mountains Scheme, authorised by the federal government in 1949.
    Background · from our historical context
  3. The Snowy Mountains Scheme was completed.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  4. Snowy 2.0 was announced by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in March 2017 as a pumped-hydro expansion linking the existing Tantangara and Talbingo reservoirs in New South Wales.
    Background · from our historical context
  5. Snowy Hydro approved the final investment decision for Snowy 2.0.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  6. Construction began on Snowy 2.0.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  7. In 2023, the Australian government renegotiated Snowy Hydro’s agreement with Italian contractor Webuild in a project reset; the cost estimate then rose to $12 billion.
    Background · from our historical context
  8. ScheduledThe project’s original completion date was 2021, and the updated target is late 2029.
    Reported in this story's sourcesSource:aapnews.aap.com.au

How we got here

In 2023, the Australian government renegotiated Snowy Hydro’s agreement with Italian contractor Webuild in a project reset; the cost estimate then rose to $12 billion. The reset followed delays to Snowy 2.0, whose original completion target was 2021.

Snowy 2.0 was announced by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in March 2017 as a pumped-hydro expansion linking the existing Tantangara and Talbingo reservoirs in New South Wales. The project builds on the Snowy Mountains Scheme, authorised by the federal government in 1949.

Related developments1 story

Original sources

4 articles from 4 outlets

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