Auditors say timeline for Australia’s Snowy 2.0 mega hydro project remains unclear
Australia’s national audit office says the completion date for the Snowy 2.0 mega hydro-electric project in the NSW Snowy Mountains is still unclear. The audit outlined five recommendations and concluded that contractors have not been held accountable in line with the scheme’s commercial terms.
The Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) report, released on Wednesday, found that state-owned Snowy Hydro, which is delivering the Snowy 2.0 project, has not held contractors sufficiently accountable on their contractual obligations. ABC News Australia reported that the audit warned cost and schedule risks remained inadequately defined.
The project was announced in 2017 by then-prime minister Malcolm Turnbull with a forecast price tag of 2 billion Australian dollars; the total bill is now widely understood to have exceeded 12 billion dollars. Internal documents seen by the ABC show that, although the latest contractual schedule targets 2029, auditors warned the actual delivery date could slip further.
A federal Treasury spokesperson said the government had accepted all five recommendations of the audit. The Greens’ energy spokesperson said the report "shows the governance of Snowy 2.0 needs to be completely reset." Snowy Hydro said in a written response to the audit that it would publish an updated delivery plan before the end of 2026.
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