| Australasia
its business for the future. With an annual profit of A$217million being “comfortably above the corporate target”, the company said it maintained a secure level of energy, exceeded storage targets and consistently remained above the required high reliability level. “We also saw significant progress for our Battery of the Nation ambitions, with Lake Cethana announced as our preferred site for pumped hydro development and a new future outlined for the Tarraleah hydropower scheme. The Tasmanian and Australian Governments confirmed their strong support for Tasmania’s energy future through a new agreement that sets out a pathway for realising this opportunity,” Chairman Grant Every-Burns said. Highlights from Hydro Tasmania’s 2020-21 Annual Report include: ● Ongoing modernisation and maintenance of hydropower generation assets, including significant progress on a multi-year A$80 million refurbishment programme for Trevallyn, Catagunya and Lake Echo power stations and the first stage of work on a A$20 million upgrade to the Murchison Dam spillway capacity.
● Generation asset performance remained strong, with average portfolio availability above target for the year.
● The eel bypass at Trevallyn Dam won the Regional Infrastructure Project Award at the Australian Water Association Tasmanian Water Awards.
● Entura was appointed by Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to the panel of preferred service providers for the Australian Infrastructure Financing Facility for the Pacific. This positions the business well for expanding the pipeline of power and water projects in the Pacific region. In other news, on 12 November Hydro Tasmania responded to the announcement that Basslink Pty Ltd and its related entities had entered into voluntary administration. Hydro Tasmania said under the Basslink contracts there is a framework which enables the interconnector to continue to operate through this process. In addition, the company said its energy in storage was at 52.6% which is “a very secure position and well above the high reliability level”. Basslink owns and operates the 400kV DC undersea electricity interconnector that runs from Loy Yang in Gippsland, Victoria, across the Bass Strait to Bell Bay in Northern Tasmania; and allows the trade of electricity between Tasmania and the national electricity market. Earlier in October 2021 Hydro Tasmania announced that it would “progress its legal rights”. This followed the expiry of a Standstill Agreement put in place in December 2020 in the wake of the Arbitration outcome between Basslink, the State of Tasmania and Hydro Tasmania. Arbitrator Robert French AC had awarded the state and Hydro Tasmania in excess of A$70 million relating to the failure of the Basslink cable in 2015. As part of that outcome, French agreed with Hydro Tasmania’s position that the 2015 subsea cable failure was not a force majeure event and that it was instead caused by thermal overstressing arising from Basslink’s operation of the interconnector. Basslink was found in breach of the Basslink Services Agreement and required to undertake a number of actions to improve the operational performance of the cable. In December 2020, the state and Hydro Tasmania agreed in good faith to enter into a Standstill
Agreement that preserved the rights of the parties and created a framework for negotiations to take place on commercial and engineering matters, while Basslink attempted to refinance its debt and meet its commitments arising from the Arbitrations. Then in May 2021, an agreement was made to extend the Standstill Agreement until Wednesday 27 October 2021 to allow Basslink more time. Hydro Tasmania said it acted in good faith in the hope that a resolution could be found but had been unsuccessful in reaching agreement with Basslink, that it had not satisfactorily progressed the actions required to improve the cable’s operational performance, and that Basslink has failed to pay Hydro Tasmania the costs awarded by the Arbitrator. Basslink said that it had been making progress on the various arbitration award matters in a responsible manner. It had also been engaged in a sale process which did not conclude “because all parties, including the state and Hydro Tasmania, unfortunately, could not come to a satisfactory agreement with the bidder”. KPMG Australia has now been appointed as receivers and managers of Basslink and its related entities. Peter Gothard, Restructuring Services Partner
from KPMG Australia, said: “I want to reassure our stakeholders and the community that Basslink’s business will continue to operate as usual and there will be no disruption to the operations of the interconnector or communications as a result of this appointment. The Basslink interconnector will continue to operate as usual during the receivership process, providing an efficient and reliable connection to the national electricity market”. Gothard added that they look forward to working
pro-actively with all stakeholders, including the Tasmanian Government and Hydro Tasmania, “to establish a pathway to restructure the business”.
Heritage The first experimental roaded catchment dam in
Western Australia has been added to the Register of Heritage Places, acknowledging the structure’s scientific value.
AA Dam No190 James, Lake Grace was originally constructed in 1914 and, following improvements in 1949, became the first experimental roaded catchment dam in the state. It is a square dam with a concrete inlet chute and was originally part of a state government programme to provide an adequate water supply to regions of the Wheatbelt during the early twentieth- century that were not part of the Goldfields Water Supply Scheme. f
Below: A new bridge in Windsor completely submerged after floodwaters inundated the area and surrounding localities in New South Wales during March 2021. The EIS for raising the Warragamba Dam suggests that if the structure is raised as proposed these floods would have peaked at around 3.6m lower at Windsor, Australia
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