SNOWY Hydro CEO Dennis Barnes is confident Snowy 2.0 will meet its December 2028 operating target, saying tunnel boring machine (TBM) Florence is running as expected and recent reports of an incident in the project’s transformer hall is not cause for concern.

Mr Barnes said following TBM Florence restarting work in December 2023, the machine has progressed as planned.

TBM Florence is excavating the headrace tunnel from the Tantangara portal, and according to Mr Barnes, is making the required progress.

“TBM Florence is operating as expected. We have moved through the soft ground. Florence is averaging about seven to eight metres per day. Florence is absolutely on the move, Mr Barnes said.

“Snowy Mountain range is probably the most geological diverse part of Australia. We know we will go from soft ground to hard ground.

“The soft ground we encountered more than 15-months ago now, that was a bit earlier than expected. The hard ground was expected.”

The Snowy Hydro CEO, who started in the role in February 2023, spoke to regional media outlets (including The Monaro Media Group) following a Snowy 2.0 site visit last week. He said the December 2028 target for Snowy 2.0 to become operational is still on track.

“When we reset the project, we had a schedule that needed us to achieve about eight percent progress by now. All the signals are there we will achieve that date,” Mr Barnes said.

“We have changed the relationship with the main contractor (Future Generation Joint Venture). The reset is on track.”

Mr Barnes said recent media reports of a ‘partial tunnel collapse’ are not accurate.

He said during a recent blast in the transformer hall cavern (at the Lobs Hole site), several segments were damaged and blast material penetrated a temporary section of the main access tunnel located directly below the cavern.

“The ‘breakthrough’ occurred one blast earlier than planned. We expected this to occur, just one blast later,” Mr Barnes said.

“The site is entirely safe, there are no workers there before blasts occur.”

The total distance tunnelled by all three Snowy 2.0 TBMs across the pumped-hydro renewable energy project is approximately nine kilometres.