Tasmania powering the nation
Australia’s energy market is rapidly changing. Coal generation is retiring, and new sources of renewable energy like wind and solar are becoming more plentiful. But these new sources are variable, which simply means the wind doesn’t always blow and the sun doesn’t always shine.
Tasmania is a pioneer in renewable energy… our hydropower system has been powering the state for over a century. Tasmania is now poised to play a much greater role in Australia’s energy supply.
We can harness the state’s vast renewable energy potential, which includes existing hydropower, new pumped hydro and our unmatched wind resources. Together, these resources would generate more than enough energy for our state. This means that we can export our surplus clean, reliable and affordable energy to support mainland Australia’s transition to renewables and help power the energy system of the future.
Further interconnection between Tasmania and Victoria is critical to unlocking these renewable energy investment opportunities.
Marinus Link and supporting North West Tasmania Transmission Developments
Marinus Link is a proposed 1500 megawatt capacity undersea and underground electricity connection to link North West Tasmania to Victoria. Marinus Link will be supported by proposed transmission network developments in North West Tasmania.
TasNetworks completed a positive feasibility and business case assessment for Marinus Link and the supporting North West Tasmania transmission developments in December 2019. This work was supported by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and the Tasmanian Government.
Marinus Link and the supporting North West Tasmania transmission developments can help Australia’s transition to a low emissions future. Together, they unlock Tasmania’s clean, cost-competitive energy generation and storage resources, providing dispatchable (on-demand) energy to the National Electricity Market (NEM) when it’s needed.
Marinus Link will operate in addition to the existing privately-owned Basslink undersea interconnector across Bass Strait.
TasNetworks is the Tasmanian jurisdictional planner in the NEM. It owns, operates and maintains the electricity transmission and distribution network in Tasmania to deliver a safe, cost-effective and reliable electricity supply to more than 285,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers.
Battery of the Nation
Hydro Tasmania is leading work to investigate future development opportunities in hydropower system expansion including pumped hydro energy storage. Significant potential has been identified for development of new, low-cost, long-duration pumped hydro, as well as unlocking latent hydro capacity and optimising the existing hydropower system.
Hydro Tasmania has been assessing the potential of our three top priority pumped hydro opportunities at Lake Cethana and Lake Rowallan in the North West and near Tribute Power Station on the West Coast.
Following an early feasibility assessment across all three sites on a range of technical, environmental, social, and financial criteria, Hydro Tasmania has announced that Lake Cethana is its preferred site that will now progress to final feasibility assessment.
A feasibility study has been completed into reimagining the Tarraleah hydropower scheme for a future energy market. Hydro Tasmania is now finalising its preferred asset management strategy for the scheme’s future.
Hydro Tasmania has also completed extensive analysis of the future energy market and Tasmania’s role, and produced a range of discussion papers.
Hydro Tasmania is Australia’s leading clean energy business, largest producer of renewable energy, and largest water manager.
Renewable Energy Zones
Some places are better suited to renewable energy production than others. This is due to weather patterns, existing land uses, proximity to grid infrastructure, or a combination of these factors.
Renewable Energy Zones (REZ), are high-quality resource areas where clusters of large-scale renewable energy projects can be developed using economies of scale.
The establishment of REZs will coordinate access to existing and new transmission lines to areas with excellent renewable energy resources. REZs are expected to play a key role in minimising the cost of build out for Tasmanian customers and connecting generators through optimising the design of the power system.
In 2022, Australian Energy Market Operator identified three candidate REZ and two Offshore Wind Zones (OWZs) in Tasmania.
The North West
Announced in December 2022, the North West will be to be the first region to be explored for the development of a REZ. Throughout 2023, community engagement processes will be conducted within this region alongside more detailed technical, environmental, and economic studies. If you would like to know more or get involved, please visit renewableenergyzones.tas.gov.au.