Calls have been made to scrap the “deeply troubled” Snowy 2.0 project after a review found its estimated costs soaring again.
Snowy Hydro, the government-owned company behind the hydropower project, announced this week that its costs could reach a staggering $25bn amid further delays.
And the ambitious scheme, Australia’s largest renewable energy project, is not expected to be operational until spring 2029 having been hit with further delays.
The cost blowout has prompted calls for the project to be scrapped and Energy Minister Chris sacked.
Angus Taylor called for Mr Bowen’s head during a press conference on Friday.
“We should scrap Chris Bowen – that is what should be scrapped,” the Opposition Leader said.
“The government needs to have a long, hard look at what is going wrong with it and the best way to do that is get rid of Chris Bowen, put a new energy minister in place, or better, a new government, and fix it.
“It is out of control under him.”
Meanwhile, opposition energy security spokesman Garth Hamilton told News24 the project had “hairs all over it”.
“I think we got it wrong ignoring some of the concerns at the start,” he said. “Those concerns have played out at an extremely high risk level.
“I’m not sure a private organisation would continue with a project like this – and I’m not sure they’d have even started it.
“Trying to ignore things like these is what is causing problems in politics right now. It is clear this is a deeply troubled project and we can’t keep looking back on it.”
Mr Bowen, however, defended the project, despite describing the cost blowout as “very disappointing”.
“I think on balance this is a project that will provide net benefits to the Australian people,” he told News24
“This is one of the world’s biggest engineering projects – we are building a power station the size of Sydney Opera House a kilometre under the ground.
“This project will last 150 years. When our grandkids and great-grandkids are relying on energy, this Snowy 2.0 will still be working – it has got a very long life.
“Yes, it is much more expensive than we thought and more expensive than we would like, but it is very important.”
He said the initial Snowy project was “a national treasure” and Snowy 2.0 would be the same.
Mr Bowen said the cost forecast was “the best estimate at this point” but stopped short of ruling out any potential future increases.
Announcing the cost blowout and delays this week, Snowy Hydro chief executive Dennis Barnes said the cost reassessment was subject to “rigorous scrutiny and assurance”.
The review estimated the cost would be $22.2bn, which would not reflect the full amount stumped up by the taxpayer.
However, it did not rule out the final cost reaching $25bn.
“I have no doubt that moving from a fixed-price contract, which was never suitable for such scale, uniqueness and complexity, has projected the project from an even greater cost increase,” Mr Barnes said.
“The scale of Snowy 2.0’s energy storage is world-leading. More than half of the total energy storage the grid needs by 2050 will come from Snowy 2.0 alone.
“Like the original Snowy scheme, which still underpins energy reliability more than 70 years on, Snowy 2.0 is a generational investment in our energy sovereignty and a national asset owned by all Australians.”
More to come.