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Snowy Hydro powers up piece by piece

 

Snowy Hydro has opened a precast concrete factory in Cooma, New South Wales where 130,000 concrete segments will be produced for the Snowy 2.0 hydropower project.

The largest renewable energy project in Australia and the Southern Hemisphere will provide 2000 megawatts of power for the national electricity market – enough to power three million homes in a week.

Snowy 2.0’s construction – worth $5.1 billion – should create 4000 direct jobs over the life of the project, with 220 of these coming in the construction and operation of the Cooma factory.

The facility includes a concrete batching plant and two automated carousels to produce more than 200 segments per day.

The raw materials are locally sourced, while 70,000 tonnes of slag are used to replace 40 per cent of the required cement.

The resulting tunnel for the project will be 27km long.

The Federal Minister for Industry, Energy and Emissions Reduction Angus Taylor said it was terrific to see manufacturing come home to Australia.

“The project is stimulating significant economic activity in regional NSW, not only through the thousands of jobs it will create, but also through the many local businesses that are already benefiting from Snowy 2.0,” he said.

“This is an excellent example of regional manufacturing might, and today’s announcement is another important milestone for the Snowy 2.0 project.”

Snowy Hydro chief executive officer and managing director Paul Broad also emphasised the focus on local materials and jobs.

“Right from the start, we wanted to build this factory locally rather than import segments from overseas or interstate because it meant local jobs, opportunities and investment,” Broad said.

“So, it’s with great pride that we celebrate the official launch of this critical facility for Snowy 2.0 alongside our principal contractor and factory operator Future Generation Joint Venture.”

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