Construction |
Above: Construction of the Polihali village is complete as is that of the operations centre, while the commercial centre and upgrades to Katse Lodge are underway at LHWP
for a planning modification, enabling the machine
to restart tunnelling the headrace adit. Progress highlights for 2023 include TBM Lady Eileen Hudson being relaunched in July to excavate her second tunnel for the project – she’s now one kilometre into the tailrace tunnel. There are more than 2700 people employed on Snowy 2.0 and a total of 20 million hours have been worked to date. Drill and blast excavation of the power station
cavern crowns is well underway from both ends of the machine and transformer halls and we’re seeing large power station components manufactured by Voith Hydro delivered to site.
Senior electrical quality engineer Victor Teo went to Shanghai, China, where Voith is fabricating some of the key electrical components for Snowy 2.0, including stator bars, rotor bars and poles. 468 stator bars are needed for each of the six pump-turbine generator units, so over 3,000 of them including spares will be produced. There is always a member from the Snowy Hydro
team in China to conduct quality assurance activities, monitor progress, act as a conduit to close out technical issues and to conduct Factory Acceptance Tests Snowy 2.0 project manager and environmental engineer Emily Martin was at Tantangara, where TBM Florence is tunnelling in slurry, or closed, mode. This mode utilises the onsite slurry treatment plant and allows the team to pressurise the ground around the TBM to provide additional stability. The intake excavation works at Tantangara are progressing well, with stage 2 well underway.
This involves another 78,000 cubic metres of drilling and blasting earthworks, along with rockbolt installation and shotcreting. The intake excavation, which is where water will
enter the headrace tunnel, is currently about 35m deep and it will be extended to a total depth of 55m. Tunnelling has resumed at the Snowy 2.0 project’s
Tantangara site following the approval of a planning modification by the New South Wales (NSW) government. The project faced a temporary halt due to soft ground conditions and the emergence of a sinkhole above the tunnel boring machine (TBM) Florence. The restart saw TBM Florence making its initial advance in mid-December, utilizing closed (slurry) mode for the slow and steady progress. The project has deployed specialized and experienced personnel to oversee the tunnelling process. Dennis Barnes, CEO of Snowy Hydro, expressed satisfaction at reaching this milestone and emphasized the importance of the green light for the Tantangara tunnelling to recommence. “The conditions of approval were developed
through the extensive review, public consultation and determination process, and will be strictly adhered to as we get back underway with excavation of the tunnel,” Barnes said. “The Snowy 2.0 delivery team is acutely aware of its responsibilities working in the sensitive environment of Kosciuszko National Park. We are focused on achieving excellent environmental outcomes throughout construction of this pumped- hydro expansion of the Snowy Scheme and critical infrastructure for Australia’s transition to renewable energy.”
Right: The LHWP upstream cofferdam is expected to be completed by January 2024
12 | January 2024 |
www.waterpowermagazine.com
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