Snowy 2.0 will cost taxpayers more than $12 billion to complete, following Snowy Hydro announcing a cost re-assessment for the project is underway.

In mid-2023, the Federal Government-owned company, delivered a revised $12 billion price-tag to complete Snowy 2.0.

This figure came as Snowy Hydro issued a project reset in August 2023, following tunnel boring machine (TBM) Florence being stuck for most of the year, supply chain pressures and disruptions caused by COVID-19.

Snowy Hydro said last week it has directed Snowy 2.0 principal contractor, Future Generation Joint Venture, to undertake a ‘comprehensive’ line-by-line re-assessment of its costs to deliver the project.

Snowy Hydro CEO, Dennis Barnes, said while he believed the 2023 reset has ‘substantially’ increased productivity, further TBM stoppages in 2024 and work stoppages over safety concerns have presented challenges.

“Despite disruption, including work stoppages due to safety concerns and continuing challenges with geology, we’ve been able to recover that time and get us to where we need to be in terms of schedule,” Mr Barnes said.

“The reset was about getting Snowy 2.0 moving again by creating a more collaborative relationship with the principal contractor and achieving safe progress. We’ve done both, but the productivity uplift hasn’t been to the degree we needed.”

When the project was first announced in 2017 by then Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, it was declared Snowy 2.0 would cost $2 billion.

The cost re-assessment is expected to take up to nine months to complete.

Mr Barnes was scheduled to appear before Senate Estimates earlier this week. In next week’s edition, this masthead will provide an update on what Snowy Hydro was asked and Mr Barnes’ responses.