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Renewables, Climate and Future Industries Tasmania

Battery of the Nation

Battery of the Nation is a series of Hydro Tasmania projects that are investigating and building our island’s capacity as a hydro "battery". It’s about making better use of existing hydropower and power stations, while enhancing our ability to support the National Electricity Market (NEM) with new infrastructure like pumped hydro power stations. This will ensure a safe, reliable, low-cost energy supply for all Tasmanians, and thousands of megawatts of clean power to the mainland for a sustainable future we can all enjoy.

The Battery of the Nation projects are reliant on the progression of Project Marinus.

Battery of the Nation also involves a significant research component, including studies supported by ARENA and Hydro Tasmania in three key areas:

Battery of the Nation fast facts

  • Hydro Tasmania has selected Lake Cethana as the preferred pumped hydro site to progress to investment-ready stage.
  • Pumped hydro is like a big battery. It can push water uphill when electricity is readily available, then release water back down through a turbine to generate power when it’s needed. This is a great complement to less consistent forms of clean energy like wind and solar, keeping the system on an even keel. Watch this short video to find out how it works.
  • Hydro Tasmania is also investigating the potential redevelopment of the Tarraleah hydropower scheme.
  • The Tarraleah redevelopment would increase the capacity of the power station to ~190MW, provide for more flexible and dispatchable generation, and could create up to 250 jobs during peak construction.
    • See here for further information on the Tarraleah redevelopment work program.
  • In April 2022, the Tasmanian and Australian governments announced a further $123 million to progress the Tarraleah redevelopment project to a Final Investment Decision planned for 2024.
  • In October 2022, both governments executed the Letter of Intent which commits up to $1 billion of concessional finance under the Rewiring the Nation initiative to fund the construction phase of the Battery of the Nation projects.
    • See here for further information on the Letter of Intent: https://www.pm.gov.au/media/rewiring-nation-plugs-marinus-link-and-tasmanian-jobs  agreeing to jointly own and fund the project in October 2022.
  • Hydro Tasmania research has shown there is up to ~400MW of existing seasonal hydropower capacity that can be unlocked by the first 750MW cable of Marinus Link without any additional asset upgrades.

More detailed information on Battery of the Nation is available here.