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Category: Electricity Energy and Utilities / Hydro Energy / State Parliament

Hydro offloading diesel generators as Basslink cable fixed

Wednesday, 8 Jun 2016 09:14:18 | Rosemary Bolger

The generators supplementing Tasmania's energy supply are no longer needed. (ABC News: Ellen Coulter)

Hydro Tasmania will send back more than 80 diesel generators after Basslink declared it had successfully reconnected its undersea power cable, almost six months after it failed.

The repair crew is now preparing to carry out more tests and bury the cable next week, allowing Tasmania to resume importing and exporting power from Victoria before the end of June.

The extended outage added to pressure on already record low Hydro Tasmania dams, requiring the state to rely on diesel generators and a gas-fired power station to meet electricity needs at the height of the crisis.

Heavy rain since May has replenished dam storage levels that are now sitting at 26 per cent.

Water spills over Travallyn Dam near Launceston Photo: After months of critically low levels many of Tasmania's dams are now spilling over. (ABC News: Steve Opie)

The successful repair and increasing storage has prompted Hydro Tasmania to begin demobilising most of the diesel generators, saving about $2 million a month in lease costs.

That still leaves diesel generators capable of producing 135 megawatts of power at the Que River and Bell Bay sites if needed.

Hydro has spent $50.5 million on installation and lease costs and about $8.5 million on operating the diesel generators up until the end of May.

Energy Minister Matthew Groom said the contingency measures had been worth it.

"While the costs associated with the deployment of temporary diesel generation are significant, the consequences of not acting could have been far more severe," he said.

Groom defends holiday as energy crisis unfolded

In budget estimates hearings, Mr Groom was grilled about his whereabouts in the weeks shortly after the cable failed.

Greens leader Cassy O'Connor accused Mr Groom's office of trying to hide his Coles Bay family holiday at the end of December.

Mr Groom said he told Ms O'Connor about his holiday in a private conversation and he was disappointed she was now seeking to use it against him.

"I take my family to Coles Bay every year, and I had made a promise to my kids that they would go to Coles Bay and I stood by that commitment," Mr Groom said.

He said he carried out all his ministerial duties from the East Coast.

"I can assure you that I've been fully occupied, specifically in relation to the energy crisis every day since December 22."

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