Executive Summary
Snowy Hydro, the Australian federal government owned hydro-electric power scheme, has announced bold ambitions to expand its fossil gas-fired power generation facilities. The announcement of these grandiose plans came following the company’s hubris in announcing it had delivered a ‘strong financial performance’ in the 2019-2020 fiscal year.
A closer look at the financial statements however reveal a starker picture, with the company producing its worst ever financial performance.
Taxpayers are likely to bear the costs of this financially unfeasible project.
Promoted as a project to help Australia transition to a low carbon future at the lowest possible cost, initial estimates suggested that the Snowy 2.0 pumped hydro scheme would cost A$2 billion.
Today, with construction, financing and transmission costs for the flagship project spiralling and expected to reach A$10 billion, it is unlikely Snowy 2.0 will ever pay a commercial return. Rather, taxpayers are likely to bear the costs of this financially unfeasible project, as well as the environmental burden.